Back
by PythianPickles
Summary: After leaving his friends for six years because of some advice from Roku and the Spirits, the Avatar is back at the Southern Water Tribe for a mandatory inspection as the Avatar. Attempts to make things right with his friends, and especially with Katara, are interrupted by a wave of assassins and other problems. Kataang and some adventure. Rated T for safety. Multichaptered.
1. Prologue

**Hey everyone! You can call me PythianPickles, and this is my first fanfiction, no beta readers or anything, so don't be surprised if, by the end of this, you think that "Aang went home and had fun with Appa" is a better story than this. Please read and review! ^_^ I want to know how bad I did, how I could improve, etc. so I don't make you blind/mentally scarred if you decide to read any other of my future stories. But enough talk. On to the story! **

**Oh right.**

**Disclaimer: ME DOESN'T OWN TEH AVATAR**

* * *

The Avatar had fought giant panda spirits. He had clashed with canyon crawlers, encountered face-stealing spirits, and defeated psycho Fire Lords. They were all scary.

This was scarier.

The esteemed Avatar, keeper of justice, bridge between worlds…was scared of walking into a building.

Or to put it another way, a reunion with friends.

Friends he hadn't seen in six years…

* * *

_Flashback (Six years back)_

_Thirteen-year old Aang jerked upright in his bed, sweating and breathing heavily, images from the nightmare he'd just had running madly through his head. He'd had that dream…again…Aang decided it was time to talk to someone who might know what to do about this. Aang pushed himself up from the bed into a lotus position, curled his hands into fists, and brought them together, letting the chi flow through his body, and cleared his mind._

_He was going to talk to Avatar Roku, one of his past lives. Roku had seen much more than he had. Maybe he knew if these repeating dreams were more than just dreams._

_With a slight tingle in his head and a sensation of falling, Aang found himself in the Spirit World._

_The young Avatar opened his eyes to see himself on top of a plateau in the middle of the desert, with a dazzling night sky filled with stars._

"_Avatar Roku? Anyone?" he yelled out._

_Aang felt a slight ache in his chest as a glowing blue mist pulled out of him and coalesced into the form of an elderly man dressed in Fire Nation robe: Avatar Roku._

"_Is there something I can help you with, Aang?" Roku inquired._

_Without preamble, Aang asked, "Roku, can Avatars have visions of the future?"_

_Roku sighed. "Aang, I think you should know—"_

"_TELL ME!" Aang yelled. "Night and night I've always been having the exact same dream, with my friends getting held hostage and killed just because they're friends with ME! Every night. Exact same dream."_

"_Aang, you didn't even let me finish my sentence," Roku said evenly. "Now let me tell you a little more about Avatars and their dreams…"_

_Back in the physical world, Sokka was walking back down one of the hallways of the large house he was staying in with Aang and the others after getting a drink of water when he stopped abruptly. He could've sworn he'd heard a distant "TELL ME!" shouted out. Sokka looked skeptically into his cup. "Must've been some cactus juice in this bucket," he muttered, and kept on walking._

"…_so Avatars can't have visions of the future?" Aang said. His entire body visibly relaxed in relief. "So that means…" He exhaled a breath he hadn't even realized he'd been holding. "It was just some silly nightmare, wasn't it, Roku? Maybe it was just like Iroh said. Too much spicy food."_

"_Aang." There was an unmistakably solemn and grim tone to Roku's voice now. "Avatars can't have visions of the future, but spirits can."_

_Dead silence._

"_But..but…I'm a spirit!" Aang cried. "You just said Avatars can't have visions of the future. You're not making sense!"_

"_Aang, calm down. You may be a spirit, but being the Avatar has always been about being part human too."_

_Aang tried to clear his mind again and calm down, imagining Gyatso standing in front of him with a disapproving look on his face at his outburst. Or was it really just his imagination? "I'm sorry, Roku. It's just so hard…thinking of Katara and the others dying just because they're friends with me."_

"_I am aware, young Aang. I was worried for my beloved Ta Min many times too."_

"_But even in your time, the war was only beginning. __**I**__ have to deal with Ozai's friends shooting me dirty looks every time I walk past them in the street!"_

"_I'm sorry for that, Aang. All of this is because of my own indecisiveness. But let me tell you about spirits. There are some spirits, even older than Koh, who are so old that they have become attuned to the world and the stranger workings of fate. They have the power to occasionally glimpse the future by accident."_

"_What does that have to do with me? I'm not that old." Aang said indignantly. _At least I hope not, _he thought._

"_Spirits have always had the power to influence thoughts sometimes, especially for souls as used to the spirit world as yours and for spirits as old and powerful as the ones I'm talking about. While you were sleeping, well, it's possible that they may be sending you some kind of warning or message as a dream."_

"_Are you saying that Katara and the others might really die?" Aang asked nervously._

"_I'm saying that it is a possibility that you must entertain," Roku responded. "Being the friend of a powerful figure always has its inherent risks, whether that friend is the Avatar or someone like that mayor who tried to boil you in oil. People will always be trying to kill you," here he paused, "or use you as leverage."_

"_Which is what I've been dreaming about," Aang finished. "So you're saying that some kind old spirit—"_

"—_well, I wouldn't say __**kind**__, Aang," Roku interrupted. "If you ever encountered any of these entities, you'll be lucky to keep your life."_

"_So why would they care, then?" Aang asked. "Why tell me about something that's gonna happen if they'd kill me if I so much as sneezed next to them? Which would really be something, since I'm an airbender __**and**__ the Avatar." _

_Aang could almost hear the thud from his attempted joke falling flat on its face._

"_Sorry," he mumbled. "I get that this is definitely not the time to be joking around, but we're talking about my friends dying here…"_

"…_Aang, in light of the warning from the Old Ones, I think it would best for you to…distance yourself from your friends."_

_Aang was silent. The desert wind blew around him as he thought carefully._

"_Y-you're right…" he murmured. "If…if…people think that I don't give a monkey feather about them…they won't do anything to them."_

"_Aang, I understand how hard this is for you, especially about Katara. I know how you feel about her."_

_Despite himself, Aang flushed._

"_But if you really care about her, you'll leave. I'll let you sleep on it," Roku concluded. "It was good to see you again, Aang, even if it had to be in such a dire time."_

"_Roku, wait, don't—"_

_For the second time that night, Aang burst upright in his bed, panting and sweating. The beginnings of dawn were peeking over the mountains, light blue starting to replace the stark darkness that was so characteristic of night._

_After scribbling a quick note, and an apology, to his friends, Aang packed with the efficiency of an Air Nomad and hurried out of the room, rushing for the stables._

_He had somewhere to go._

* * *

Aang shook his head. He had _really_ gotten into that flashback. _It's time to deal with the present, not the past, _he thought. Aang reached for the doorknob…

* * *

…**and that concludes chapter one! I hope this story wasn't too awkward or OOC for any of the characters. I cranked this out in four hours so I'm not expecting any favorable reviews. Please read and review! I'd love to see how I did.**

**PythianPickles out! :)**


	2. Wait, I have to do WHAT?

**So…apparently I didn't do **_**that**_** bad! :D Thanks to the people who reviewed. As another note, this story is written from a viewpoint assuming that Katara didn't talk to Aang or kiss him or anything at the Jasmine Dragon. I'll go into what she did in this universe later, assuming I get that far. I'd call this story an AU, but then again, almost all fanfictions are technically AUs whether the author calls it that or not. **

**And now for that boring disclaimer.**

**DISCLAIMER: RATAVA NWO T'NOD EM**

**Hope you could read that, Mr. Lawyer.**

**On to the story! I gotta stop ranting in these author's notes… e.e**

* * *

Aang was really very surprised that no one had come to yell at him for standing in front of the town hall door for ten minutes, staring at the doorknob.

Where was everyone, anyway?

_Alright,_ Aang thought. _I can do it…I can face them again after six years…not…guilty_…and with a quick movement, Aang violently pulled open the door to reveal…

…an empty room, full of round dining tables and chairs, the setting sun filtering through the windows.

Aang tentatively poked his head into the room.

"Hello? Anyone here?" he called. Aang began to wonder if he had come one day early. _That's just my kind of luck, isn't it? What with that platypus-bear as soon as I left Katara and the oth—_

"Avatar Aang!"

Aang looked around wildly. After a few seconds, he saw the source of the call: an elderly servant wiping a particularly nasty table clean. "Uh, hello, could you tell me where everyone is?" he asked.

"Oh, I thought you knew! The whole town is waiting in the auditorium for your speech!" the man responded cheerfully.

Aang thought he might be sick. "My…my…_what_, now?" he stammered.

"Your speech! I'd be there, except I'm not much for speeches—no offense, Avatar Aang. That Earth Kingdom messenger who announced your arrival three days ago said that you'd prepared one! I bet it'll be the best speech ever, seeing as you're over ten thousand years old and all that!" the man answered.

"Oh…uh…right…my speech! Yes, I've got…uh…quite the message for the Southern Water Tribe," Aang stated weakly.

"Well, better hurry up! They've all been waiting for fifteen minutes!" The man gestured towards a sliver of light emanating from a crack between two doors at the other end of the room.

"Yes, of course," Aang said. With a weak smile he began striding towards the room, mentally cursing King Kuei all the while. _It's bad enough that I have to come here and risk meeting my former friends_, Aang thought, _but really? A speech?_ Aang groaned. Aang looked down at his Air Nomad necklace nervously, wishing that he could summon one of his past lives to help him with his impromptu speech. Aang looked up just in time to crash into the doors.

The doors opened, and Chief Hakoda looked out, first with a look of apprehension, then an unreadable emotion as he saw Aang. "The Avatar is here!" he called back into the room. Aang could hear the background chatter in the room abruptly stop.

_Well, here goes,_ Aang thought. Putting on his "Avatar look," as he called it, Aang walked into the room, trying his best to exude an air of authority and power.

There was a dignified silence in the room, until…

"Mommy, does that man need to use the bathroom?" a toddler whispered, pulling on his parent's sleeve and pointing at Aang. Aang's entire face heated up, and he loosened up and kept walking, trying to act like he hadn't heard. The people in front of Aang cleared a pathway to the podium at the front of the town hall with a collective sound of rustling and stamping. Aang sped up and soon reached the podium, straightening up, clearing his throat, preparing to give the most fantastic speech of his life.

"U…um…hi, I'm the Avatar!" he started, his voice cracking horribly on the last syllable of "Avatar."

There were some coughs, and the scrape of someone moving their chair as quietly as they could.

_Why did my voice crack? I'm NINETEEN, for Agni's sake! _"I'm so pleased to see that you have been able to make so much progress in the six years after the defeat of Fire Lord Ozai and the Fire Nation!" he continued. Indeed, Aang had been pleased. When he first landed Appa in the outskirts of the Southern Water Tribe, he'd almost thought he'd landed at some _other_ colony.

"This…uh…is a real testimony to the strength and resiliency of the honorable people of the Southern Water Tribe!" Aang proclaimed, now completely copying Zuko's first speech as the Fire Lord, replacing "Fire Nation" with "Southern Water Tribe." "I have been sent by the Order of the White Lotus and Earth King Kuei to go on a…inspection; I mean to take a friendly look at, all the four nations of this world." Aang was rubbing the back of his neck nervously, sure that his face was as red as a tomato by now. "And, uh…I guess I'll help with whatever construction projects have been occurring while I meet with the tribe's leaders for a discussion. Thanks for listening, everyone!" he finished weakly.

Looks of surprise flashed across everyone's faces at the quick conclusion, followed by a rousing standing ovation as people whistled and applauded the shortest and least boring speech they had ever heard.

_Well, that wasn't that bad,_ Aang thought nervously. He stepped down from the podium as Chief Hakoda took his place.

"As with the customs of our ancestors, Avatar Aang will be staying in my house as my honored guest," Hakoda announced. "He will be looking at the progress that has been made since he was last here, seven years ago," here he paused, shooting everyone a meaningful look, "and he'll be starting tomorrow. You are dismissed!"

With some scrapes and bangs, everyone filed out of town hall, talking animatedly about the things they would do to impress the Avatar and show them just how much progress they had made, leaving Aang and Hakoda alone in the room.

"So…uh…it's been a while since I've last seen you," Aang said, eyes flicking intermittently between Hakoda and the floor.

"Six years," came the flat reply. "It's also been six years since you've last seen Katara," Hakoda said.

"Look, sir, I'm sorry for leaving without saying goodbye, but—"

"It's fine, Aang. I'm sure you had your reasons for leaving, but you've had a long day and it's time for you to rest. I'll show you to my house."

"Oh, that's fine, sir, I know where your tent is, I've been there before." Aang said nervously. "I'm sure you have things you need to do." The last thing Aang wanted was an awkward walk with the apparently angry Hakoda all the way back to his house.

"Have you even looked around? We don't use tents or encampments anymore, Aang," Hakoda said. "We have houses, just like our sister tribe. Katara helped make some of them."

"O…oh. So I have to follow you there?"

"Yes, so let's get going."

* * *

The walk to Hakoda's house was just as awkward as Aang had thought it would be. He only tried to make small talk two times before getting the message and simply observing the activity of the "reformed" water tribe.

The city had certainly grown, with a drastic rise in population, though Aang saw some women with the characteristic Northern Tribe version of hair loopies. No doubt some people had come here since he was last in the Southern Water Tribe. Aang really, really hoped that Hakoda hadn't adopted their marriage customs and married Katara off to some arrogant Northern Water Tribe boy like Hahn. Sokka had ranted about him enough for him to know that Hahn wouldn't have been a good match for Yue or Katara. _Still, it's better this way,_ Aang thought. _No one's going to attack Katara or hold her hostage if she's married to some anonymous Water Tribe man._

"We're here," Hakoda informed Aang. "I do have to talk with Pakku about waterbending lessons, so please go in and make yourself at home. I will return around eight o'candle."

Aang almost grinned, remembering the mechanist's invention, but restrained himself because of the tense atmosphere between him and Hakoda. "Of course, sir," he responded respectfully. "Which room should I stay in?"

"Eh, just take the guest room. It's labelled 'Guest Room', so it should be hard to miss. I have to go now." With that, Hakoda crunched off towards a wide columned building in the distance.

Aang sighed. He hoped relations between him and the chief would get back to the way they were before he left, but for now…not screwing up the chief's house would be a great start.

With a creak, the door opened.

Aang walked into the room, expecting to see an empty dining room, maybe with some animal heads.

Three pairs of eyes stared at him, their owners in openmouthed shock.

Aang stared back.

"H-hello again…" he said…

* * *

**Dang. Chapter 3 is gonna be **_**hell**_** to write, though I guess the awkwardness I'll feel writing it might seep into the story and somehow convey what Aang would be feeling right now. I can't imagine Hakoda would be too happy with the guy who ended up making Katara cry for weeks (but more of that later.) Again, I hope I didn't go too OOC. The real problem with making characters in character is, since you're all orchestrating this in your mind and stuff, every person sounds exactly the same. I hope I get good enough so that one day you could just remove all the "so-and-so" said parts and you'd still be able to tell who said it, instead of "Roku said to Roku said to Roku." But that's enough ruminating. I'll try and update every day or so, or however fast the ideas come. I have a pretty vague map of how this whole thing will go, though, so the updates shouldn't take years unless I get run over by a car.**

**Well…enough talk.**

**Read and review please! Or…uh…I'll…oh screw it. *flips through book of warnings* I'LL MAKE YOU READ MATH TEXTBOOKS FOR THE REST OF YOUR LIFE!**

**PythianPickles out.**


	3. Oh, uh, hi

…**well that was fast. Here's another chapter in one day, because I've really been thinking about how I want this story to go! I promised you no more ranting, so here's the disclaimer, and then we'll be off.**

**Disclaimer: I really hate Zuta—I mean, I don't own Avatar: the Last Airbender.**

* * *

**Chapter III: Oh, uh, hi**

If Aang thought he knew the meaning of dead silence before, any idea of that flew out the window instantly.

Now _this_ was dead silence. This was one hundred year old, dead, Spirit World, dead silence.

Aang's eyes roamed about the room awkwardly, trying to find something satisfactory to stare at and collect himself so he wouldn't act like a total idiot. First his eyes settled on the little feast on the table. His mouth watered, and his stomach rumbled a little. He hadn't eaten much beginning of his three day voyage to the Water Tribe. All he had to go on was some Avatar Spirit nourishment and the occasional dry cracker. Next, his eyes settled on an unfamiliar young man with a ridiculously large brown beard. Aang felt jealousy pierce his heart. Was it possible that Katara and this guy…?

Well, no use looking there. He wouldn't be collecting himself anytime soon like that.

Next, his eyes roved towards Toph, who, for the first time he had ever seen, looked completely, utterly, surprised.

Finally, he turned his gaze towards Katara, and he felt like his heart was about to jump out of his chest. Which was bad. The world didn't need _his_ dead silence.

If he had thought Katara was pretty at 14, well, six years later, she was even more breathtakingly beautiful. _Oh Agni, she's so gorgeous…_Aang thought dreamily to himself.

There was nothing in this room that he could look at to concentrate. Naturally, the first thing Aang did with his natural speaking talent was ask…

"Is that guy your boyfriend?" Aang burst out, pointing at the unfamiliar man. It was all he could do to stop his finger from shaking.

Toph immediately burst out laughing. "Gee, Twinkletoes, you don't see us for _six years,_ and the first thing you ask is if this guy's Katara's boyfriend? Dang, that really shows where _your_ priorities are."

Katara blushed and punched Toph on the arm. "Shut up, Toph!" she whispered. "Yes, Avatar Aang, this _is_ my boyfriend," she told Aang brightly. "We've been dating for, uh…six months now. Yeah," she finished, simultaneously giving the man a kiss on the cheek.

For the first time in his life, Aang knew what it meant to feel his stomach drop into his toes. First, Katara had called him _Avatar_ Aang, not Aang, and second, that guy _was_ her boyfriend! Trying his best to keep his jaw off the ground and not burst into tears, Aang turned around, trying to act disinterested. "Oh, uh, well…" here his voice quivered, "That's…nice. So, what's your name, man?" Aang pretended to be looking for a place to put his glider near the door. He could_ not_ let the others see his face right now.

"Oh, my name's…uh…Fire! Wang Fire." the guy replied.

Aang crinkled his eyebrows. _Why does that sound so familiar?_ he thought. "Well, nice to meet you, Wang Fi—" Aang was interrupted by a slapping sound and a yelp of pain. He whipped around to find that Wang was clutching his arm in pain, where a red handprint was clearly visible. Judging from the smug look on Toph's face and the dirty look Katara was shooting her, Toph was the perpetrator.

It was now Aang's turn to look flabbergasted.

"So, uh, you staying for dinner, Avatar Aang?" the guy, no, _Wang_, Aang reminded himself, asked.

Aang tried his best to keep the jealousy, heartbreak, and anger out of his voice. "No…uh…I must meditate in preparation for my discussion with the elders tomorrow." That part was partially true at least. If Aang didn't meditate soon, he was pretty sure he would crack the very ice of the iceberg the village rested on in the turmoil of his emotions. _It's better this way,_ Aang kept reminding himself, _it's better…it's better…_

"So where's Sokka?" Aang asked curiously. It seemed best to change the subject before things got any more awkward.

For some reason, Katara, Toph, and Wang were acting especially agitated. "_OH_," the three said concurrently, "he's—"

"—running an errand—"

"—fishing—"

"—teaching Master Pakku how to firebend—"

If Aang had been thinking rationally, he would've noticed something was off. Right now, though, he was frantically trying to marshal his thoughts and emotions into something resembling the sangfroid that he so often saw in Avatar Roku. "Well, I must be off," he said shakily. He reclaimed his glider and rushed out the door to find an ice boulder to use as a punching bag somewhere.

The door slammed behind him in an abnormally strong gust of wind.

"Bye…" the three finished weakly.

As soon as Aang darted out the door, Wang started pawing frantically at the place where Katara had kissed him. "Ugh!" he yelled. "Getting kissed on the cheek by your own sister—"

"Shut up!" Katara loudly interrupted. "_Wang Fire_? _Really_? _**REALLY?**_" She ripped Sokka's "Wang Fire" beard off his face with a loud ripping sound, causing Sokka to yelp in pain yet again.

"Cut it out, sis!" he complained, rubbing his tender chin. "This was a stupid plan," Sokka complained. "What idiot thought of this plan anyway?" he asked.

The others just looked at him.

"Oh," he said. "Me?"

"Yeah, you," Katara said angrily. "I don't even know why we went through with that…instead of a touching reunion with Aang after six years, you make Aang storm out the door in five minutes flat for no reason!"

"Ya sure you don't know the reason?" Toph jeered.

Katara flushed and looked down, taking a sudden interest in the texture of the bench she was sitting on. "Guys, I think I'm gonna go up to my room…and Sokka, you better pay me that money you promised for my participation."

As soon as Katara went upstairs, Sokka and Toph huddled together and started whispering in a gathering of minds.

"So Toph, did my _genius_ plan give any results?" Sokka asked Toph.

"Oh yeah," Toph said. "BIG TIME. Aang was all calm when he walked through that door, but as soon as he saw you, Mr. Boyfriend-of-My-Sister,"

"HEY!"

"—his heartbeat spiked big time. Then he looked at Katara and his heart started going even faster, if that's even possible. I'm surprised _you_ dunderheads didn't feel it."

"Thanks a lot, Toph," Sokka said sarcastically. "So we know for sure that Aang really likes Katara, even after those six years…"

"No duh, oh sleuthy one," Toph said. "Even that cabbage guy could see that."

"Nah, he'd be too busy seeing his cabbages," Sokka said. "But what about Katara?"

"Oh yeah, she's got the hots for him too," Toph said. "Their heartbeats were going at the same rate." Toph suddenly tilted her head, like she was thinking carefully. "Oh, and you want to know something interesting, Sokka?"

"What?" Sokka asked curiously. "Did you find a top secret cave filled with some money I could use to pay Katara?"

"No, but there's something better…" Toph taunted.

"What? WHAT?" Sokka was practically drooling all over the table now.

"Judging from the vibrations I'm getting, Katara is currently washing her lips over and over again." Toph told him smugly.

Sokka reared up in indignation. "Hey, I'm not _that_ nasty!" he cried. He stomped upstairs. "Katara!"

"Says the guy who I know for a fact got himself licked by Appa like fifty times while Aang was making his little speech…" Toph muttered to herself.

Toph felt the vibration of Sokka getting frozen to the wall.

* * *

**Well…sorta skirted around most of the awkwardness. Aang and Katara **_**will**_** have a heart-to-heart, but not for a while, because I need to get better at romance stuff. I suck at that. Next chapter will probably be up tomorrow.**

**Read and review please! :)**

**PythianPickles out.**


	4. Where's Aang?

**You might be thinking, **_**So why aren't Sokka and Toph super pissed at Aang for leaving?**_** All part of the story, all part of the story. *rubs hands together deviously***

**Disclaimer: Pickles don't own Avatar. Pickles can't own anything, they're just pickles.**

**Allons-y!**** (I feel like no one got that reference… ._.)**

* * *

**Part IV: Where's Aang?**

_Katara has a boyfriend. Katara has a boyfriend. Katara has a boyfriend._

Aang was having a lot of trouble meditating. Even after shutting himself in a makeshift hut of ice and assorted debris, he was finding it impossible to concentrate properly.

Every time he tried following his mentor Gyatso's instructions, that _word_ kept popping up.

_Relax, young Aang. Feel the cosmic energy of the universe rushing into your head, replacing all your thoughts. Let the chi run through your—_boyfriend. Boyfriend, boyfriend, _**boyfriend**_…

Aang groaned, attempting to counter the invasive word by thinking, _it's better this way…do you want Katara to die? It doesn't matter how horrible you feel…_

Aang was still feeling like someone had sucker punched him in the stomach. He was desperately trying to keep from screaming and crying. Aang took a deep breath and tried again, running through the instructions he learned as a child, albeit with some variations.

_Relax, young Aang. Feel the cosmic energy of the universe rushing into your head, replacing all your thoughts. Let the chi run through your body, and Katara won't—_boyfr—_die. Calm. Calm. Calm…_

Finally, Aang sank into an uneasy peace. He had quite a lot of thinking to do…

* * *

"Sokka?"

Sokka looked up from his boomerang. "Yeah, Toph?" he asked. Toph's expression was decidedly guilty and sad, and it sort of alarmed Sokka that Toph hadn't called him "Snoozles." Despite his hate for the nickname, it was an indicator that everything was all right with Toph. Still...what was she guilty about? Maybe…

"Did you metalbend my bed into an ugly sculpture of me again?" Sokka asked suspiciously. Last time she had done that, it had taken him weeks to get a new bed, and he was not eager to repeat the experience.

"No, it's about Aang," came the pensive reply.

"You ok, Toph?" Sokka queried. "You've only called me _Sokka_ once before, and I've _never_ heard you call Aang by his name."

"It's just…you think we hurt Twinkletoes too much?" Toph worried. "When he went out the door, he was crying and his heart was going like crazy."

"That's all according to our master plan!" Sokka crowed, rubbing his hands together. "Now we just need to—"

Sokka's boomerang flew out of his hands and landed in a pile of muddy snow outside the door.

"This is _serious_, Snoozles," Toph said. "Last time Aang left because he wanted to keep us safe. He said so in his note. But what if this time he leaves for another six years because _we_ pissed him off too much? Speaking of which, where is Twinkletoes?"

"You got my boomerang dirty!"

"SOKKA!" Toph punched him with the might of an earthbender.

"Fine, fine, I'm sure he'll be back in the morning," Sokka complained, rubbing his sore arm. "He did say he had to meditate or something. Now I'm gonna turn in. It's like eleven o'candle! You should go to bed too, Toph."

"I guess…" Toph said, worriedly thinking about the possible places Aang could be. She checked one last time for Appa's growling vibrations before going upstairs to her room.

* * *

When Aang finally returned to Hakoda's place, it was well past midnight and he was tired and hungry. He glanced at the table, seeing that it was devoid of any food. _What was I expecting?_ Aang thought to himself. _For them to leave me a feast? Serves me right for _abandoning_ them for six years. I'm surprised they didn't do more…_

Spying a wooden flight of stairs at the back of the large house, Aang made for them. After creaking and groaning his way up the stairs, Aang found himself in a dimly lit narrow hallway with mostly unlabeled doors. _I thought Hakoda said that the guest room would be labelled…well, I'll just have to try each door. Hope I don't disturb anyone._

Aang was just about to reach for the first door when he saw a white paper tacked to a door. Coming closer, he noticed that "Guest Room" was scrawled messily across it. "Ah, here it is," he murmured to himself. Aang sighed in relief, happy that he didn't have to disturb the entire house just to find the guest room. As quietly as he could, he turned the doorknob open…and froze.

Was Katara supposed to be in this room?

"Hello, Aang," she purred. She started slinking towards him like a cat.

"W-what…" Aang started stuttering. Normally, Katara's presence would've reduced him to a blubbering fool, but with a revealing nightgown, he could barely remember his own name. He gulped loudly and, with a burst of effort, whipped his brain into working condition. "U-uh…this is the guest room right? What are you doing here?"

"Shhh," she cooed, pressing him against the door. Aang couldn't remember closing it, but then again, he couldn't even remember if it was nighttime or daytime right now.

"Uh, Katara, I really think you should—mmph!" Aang suddenly couldn't talk as he found Katara's lips on his. His eyes slid shut in ecstasy, and his hands unconsciously wrapped around her waist. _I could stay like this forever, _he thought dreamily.

Katara pulled out of the kiss and said, "I really like you Aang."

Aang felt like he could soar up to the sky and fly over and over again in circles…

…and then his heart crashed back down onto the ground painfully as he remembered Wang. "What about Wang?" Aang asked. "Are you really going to cheat on him?"

"You know you want me to…"

Aang really, really wanted to kiss Katara again, but his inner conscience knew this was wrong. This was going against everything that the monks and Gyatso taught him. _What would Gyatso say if he saw me now? _he thought, with a burst of guilt. "I'm sorry, Katara, but this can never be. You're already with Wang now, and you've been dating for six months. I'm not going to kill an awesome relationship like that."

Suddenly, Katara gave a yelp and fell onto him.

Aang forced her off of him and grasped her by the shoulders. "No," he said firmly. "No. I'm sorry, Katara, but no. You're with Wang now, remember?"

Katara didn't respond.

"Katara? Are you—oh Agni!"

There was an arrowhead, shining with blood, sticking through her torso.

* * *

**Ooooh…dem cliffhangers! Can you guess what happens next? :P Here we go…**

**Chapter 5 will be out when it's out.**


	5. Oh, nonononono

**Oh, you are gonna be **_**so**_** mad at me. Except **_**mayyyyyyybe**_** Dacyon, who I think saw this one coming. And some other guys.**

**Disclaimer: Mister Lawyer, if you haven't gotten the message by this point, I'm afraid I'll have to fire you.**

* * *

**Chapter V: Oh nonononono…**

Snow burst up in plumes as Aang ran through the snow, Katara in his arms, yelling for a healer._ Someone, anyone, please!_ Aang thought desperately.

What he saw next almost made him forget about Katara.

There was a cliff. Actually, calling it a cliff would be the understatement of the _millennium_, but that was the only word Aang could think of to describe it.

The iceberg that the Southern Water Tribe rested on went on like normal, but then, where Aang was standing, it just _ended._ Right where the healing center would've been. And there was no sign of anything at the bottom, debris, rubble, or bodies. Just black. Chunks of snow from Aang's sliding halt spun into the abyss.

Aang almost fell to his knees in shock, but he knew he had to save Katara. _Oh, why didn't I learn healing skills from Katara or Yugoda when I had the chance? Why, why, why…_Aang whipped around quickly to find someone at the other end of the city who could help him…

…and smashed his face painfully into a wall that hadn't been there seconds ago.

Aang staggered back and fell into the snow, staring up at the sky. The sheer force and velocity of the impact had left him breathless and dazed, along with what felt like a broken nose. He couldn't feel the weight of Katara's limp body in his arms anymore. As a matter of fact, he couldn't see anymore either. Everything was white.

Aang realized he was staring right into the blinding sunlight, shining in through a hole in the top of his makeshift hermitage. Aang groaned and forced himself up. His nose still hurt like blazes. Maybe he had been sleepbending again. There was a noticeable dent in the wall he was facing to prove it.

"So…it was just another one of those dreams…?" he murmured to himself. Aang hadn't felt so relieved and free since Roku had told him Avatars weren't prescient. Even the thought of Wang couldn't dampen his spirits now. "Katara's not dead!" he shouted joyfully to the world.

"'Course she's not dead, Twinkletoes," a familiar voice said.

"Toph?"

"Who else calls you Twinkletoes?" Toph replied dourly. She stood in a giant hole in Aang's wall.

"Uh, this one time—"

"_No one_," Toph interrupted. "Now come on, everyone's lookin' for you."

"Wait, what? Why?" Aang belatedly remembered that he had a meeting with the tribal elders. "Oh…monkey feathers! What time is it?"

"Exactly. Come out and face the music!" Toph replied cheerfully, neglecting to answer Aang's question. She seemed oddly happy for some reason…

* * *

When Aang extricated himself from the collapsed doorway of his hidey-hole, he found that most, if not all, of the Southern Water Tribe was staring at him. Whispers ran through the crowd at his appearance.

"…Avatar…"

"…why's he in there?..."

"…isn't that a trash heap…?"

"…never know what dem vegetarian monks eat for dinner these days…"

"…is he doing the assessment like _that_?"

"AANG!" a shout came out from the crowd. Someone pushed through the crowd wildly.

"Sokka?"

The Water Tribe boy ran towards Aang and immediately tackled him in a bone-crushing hug.

"Oof!" Aang grunted, as he fell into the snow. He slowly got up again, awkwardly patting Sokka's back.

"Oh Spirits…we thought you left again," Sokka bawled into Aang's shoulder. Suddenly, his head popped up. "Hey, why'd you make a snowman out of trash?" he asked curiously.

Aang's rising guilt at Sokka's statement was suddenly quashed by bewilderment, a happening that seemed all too familiar these past few days. Turning around and inspecting his little hut, he realized that in his raging emotions yesterday, he had indeed bent his shelter out of most of the trash in a ten foot radius, along with the snow and ice. He hadn't noticed then, but in the stark sunlight, the fact was plain.

"How could you even _stand_ being in there?" Sokka asked. He detached himself from Aang and leaned forward slightly, sniffing loudly. "I can smell it from _here!_" he exclaimed, gesticulating wildly and pinching his nose.

"Uh…you're right next to it."

"Whatever. Still…is your nose broken or something?" Sokka crunched back over to Aang and chose this moment to flick him sharply on the nose.

Aang had forgotten that he had bashed his nose hard on the wall, breaking it in the process.

Later, he wished that the spirits hadn't chosen to remind him this way.

Aang's entire head seemed to explode with pain, and his nose felt like it was falling off. Clutching his nose, he crouched down with an agonized groan of pain, seeing black at the edges of his vision. Dimly, he heard echoing voices in the background.

"…is he okay...?...okay…?...okay?"

"Geez, Aang, I didn't hit you that hard…that hard…that hard…"

"You _**IDIOT**_, Snoozles! Zulls…zulls…zulls…"

Still clutching his nose in anguish, Aang managed to choke out, "I'm…fine." Struggling to support himself, he summoned a burst of air to propel himself up…

…only to collide, hard, with Sokka's concerned, but horribly placed, head.

The onlookers watched in dismayed awe as both the famous Avatar and Sokka sank to the ground. Finally, someone spoke.

"Someone get these idiots to the healing center…"

* * *

For the second time that day, Aang burst awake.

"Wha…?"

Then Aang remembered what would come to be known as the great Nose Knockout Incident, one of the only times a nonbender had bested the Avatar in single combat.

"Oh Spirits…I am _so_ late for my meeting now…" he muttered to himself, sitting up. Even to his own ears, his voice sounded nasal.

Aang sat on the edge of the bed, taking a moment to analyze his surroundings.

He was in a stark medium-sized white medical room, with only a cot and a table with some medical supplies resting next to him. He himself was only dressed in his normal monk's robes, with bandaging and a splint wrapped around his nose. _Guess I'll start my evaluation here,_ Aang thought with grim amusement. _Now let's see, where was—_

Aang's nose throbbed with pain, and all coherent thought ceased. Bending over again, Aang tried to apply the pain tolerance techniques the monks had taught him in preparation for his airbending mastery tattoos. _If only I knew then_, Aang sardonically thought to himself. He was so occupied with locking in the pain that he barely registered a shadow mar the stark white-blue color of the icy floor.

This was, of course, before the owner of said shadow spoke.

"So how did you break your nose, again?"

Aang's eyes widened, and despite the pain, he straightened up fast and stared in astonishment at the voice's owner.

"Katara?"

* * *

**See, I don't have the guts to write a character death fanfic. Hope you aren't mad at me for weaseling out of the cliffhanger like that. I just don't have the skill right now to write something that would be moving, not awkward. Besides, character death fanfics don't really appeal to me anyway. Don't get me wrong—there are some great angsty character deaths that really brought on the feels, but I usually stay away from self-torture. And now for awkward chapter 6…what will happen when Katara and Aang are alone for the first time in six years?**

**Well, this should be interesting.**

**For me to write, I mean. Probably not for you to read.**

**Well, then, until next time—**

**PythianPickles out! :D**


	6. Avatar Aang

**Let the awkwardness begin!**

**Disclaimer: I disclaim Avatar: Last Airbender, or anything remotely related to it.**

* * *

**Part VI: Avatar Aang**

When Katara had heard that the Avatar had broken his nose _and_ gotten knocked out and now needed a healer, she tried her best not to be noticed.

Which was, of course, why she bumped right into the healing center's manager while trying to hide. One thing had led to another, and Katara found herself standing right in front of the door to Aang's room. She could vaguely hear rustling and a muffled groan. _Good,_ she thought to herself. _I won't have to watch him sleep_. She opened the door and walked in. _Just go in and heal him and nothing weird will happen…_

* * *

Aang wasn't quite sure how to respond to the question. The dimming pain in his nose made it hard to think, and his feelings for Katara weren't helping either.

"S-s-sorry?" he managed to stutter out.

Katara rolled her eyes. "Avatar Aang, I want to know how you broke your nose. It'll help me decide how to treat it," she reiterated.

There it was again. _Avatar Aang._

Aang tried to ignore the hurt and guilt and said, "I, uh, crashed face first into a wall. Please don't ask how, Kat—Miss Katara." Aang could imagine saying, _Oh, I dreamed that you got killed by an arrow and I dropped you off a cliff by accident. That's all._ He internally cringed.

Katara raised an eyebrow, but decided not to say anything. _Remember, just healing, just healing…_ "Alright then," she decided. "Just the basic water healing for you."

"Thanks," Aang replied. "Did you do something about my concussion too?" he asked curiously. "The only thing that really feels horrible is my nose," he explained. "My head doesn't feel like it got hit really hard."

"No, that was someone else," Katara said. "Though I've had experience with healing headaches too," she continued acidly.

"Oh…right…" Aang remembered what had transpired the night he left with more than a little bit of guilt and regret.

* * *

_Flashback (six years ago)_

_Aang had just made it to the stables when he suddenly heard a voice pierce the silence of the dawn._

"_Aang?" what sounded like Katara's voice cried out. "Where are you? I wanted to talk to you about something…"_

_Aang froze guiltily and mentally kicked himself for leaving the door to his room open. _Stupid, stupid, stupid…_he reprimanded himself._ Of course someone would wake up…_ He spurred himself back into action and lugged open the heavy stable doors. He hurried inside and began putting the bags on Appa. This felt just like the time he had run away from Gyatso and the others at the Southern Air Temple…_

"_Aang? Where are you going? Do I need to pack too?" a voice sounded from directly behind him._

"_Gaah!" Aang jumped with the finesse of an airbender and banged his head painfully on one of the rafters in the stables. "Ow…" he complained, rubbing his sore head._

_A giggle sounded. "Sorry," Katara apologized, starting to come forward into the darkness of the stable. Her foot crushed a stray piece of hay. "…but it's your fault for sneaking off in the first place."_

_Aang stared for a few seconds. Even with the darkness of the stables and her sleepy appearance, Katara still looked like an angel to him. "Sorry, Katara," he said, "but I need to go _alone._ Didn't you read my note?" Aang started gathering his strength and concentration for a technique that the airbending masters had told him only to use in times of great need._

"_Note? What note?" Katara asked in confusion. "I just saw that your door was open and I came out here to find you. Listen, Aang, I wanted to tell you…" her cheeks started to turn pink._

"_I'm sorry, Katara," Aang blurted quickly, a lone tear dripping down his cheek. Discreetly moving his hands, he started slowly removing the air from around Katara. _Too fast will kill her,_ he thought to himself, …_but I need to do this quickly. Make small talk…

"_What for?" Katara inquired, looking confused. She started to come forward again. "Aang, you know you can talk to me abou—"_

"_**Stay there!**__" Aang shouted. For this to work, Katara had to be in one place._

_Katara looked shocked and hurt, but did as she was told. "Aang…what are…you…do…ing…" Katara was looking decidedly lightheaded now._

"_I'm really, really sorry Katara," Aang said, starting to cry openly now. What he was about to do had finally sunk in. He was about to abandon his closest friends forever!_

"_Aang…" Katara slumped to the ground, fainting from the lack of oxygen._

_Aang waited a few seconds before slowly letting the air reoccupy his improvised vacuum. "I'm really sorry, Katara," he said mournfully, bending to pick her up. "I'm sorry…"_

_When Katara woke up in her own bed, she assumed that she had just had a really bad dream._

_At least, she did until she went to talk to Aang about it._

* * *

"Look, I'm sorry about what happened," Aang said, in a feeble attempt to apologize.

"Let's just get this over with," Katara muttered in response. She was blinking abnormally quickly. In a fast movement, she unwrapped Aang's bandages, removed the splint, bent the water from a nearby bowl to cover Aang's nose, and healed him.

All in less than thirty seconds.

Aang blinked as his nose bones slowly realigned themselves. It was an interesting sensation, like his nose was breaking in slow motion, but without the pain. With a final twinge, the healing was over. "Thanks," he said, tenderly poking his nose. "That was fast."

"Yeah, well, I wouldn't want to be a _distraction_," Katara growled, gathering her things. All the memories that she had forgotten in the sheer euphoria of having the opportunity to see Aang after six years were flooding back, and the last thing she wanted now was a touching reunion.

Aang visibly winced, remembering what he had written in his note to the Gaang. "Look, Katara, about what I wrote there…"

"Save it," Katara shot back, stalking out of the room, with another "It was nice seeing you again Avatar Aang" tossed over her shoulder.

Aang sighed. He still remembered part of what he had written…

"_...I formally thank you, Sokka, Toph, and Katara, for your assistance in my mastery of the elements and the defeat of Ozai as the Avatar. However, you have proven to be distractions in my life, and after some counselling with the past Avatars, I have decided to leave you. Please do not come after me. All the best, Avatar Aang…"_

Aang buried his face in his hands. He was starting to regret his decision even more than last time.

* * *

In the streets of the newly rebuilt Southern Water Tribe, people were laughing and talking as they chatted and bought vegetables and meats to cook meals for their families. A man walked through the streets, looking like a normal man, except…

…unlike the rest of the crowd, he had a very fake smile plastered on his face. Spying a stand labelled "Top New Foreign Imports," he made his way towards it, checking that his information was accurate. "Two cabbages and one dead bird, please," he requested.

"The Avatar is in the healing center after a duel with Sokka, son of Hakoda. He will be staying there for the night. Our sponsor would like you to take advantage of this," came the blank reply.

"Remember, two hundred gold pieces," the mercenary told the vendor.

"Agreed."

The mercenary finally allowed a small genuine grin to cross his face.

He was finally going to have some fun tonight.

* * *

**Hope that wasn't too hard to read…I've never felt so awkward writing a chapter! And apparently there's going to be something happening tonight! *gasps***

**Well, it's been fun.**

**PythianPickles out! :D**


	7. Suki and the Suspiciously Large Beard

**Avatard.2112: Thanks for the reviews! :D And your life isn't sad, it has lots of meaning. I also love reading your story "The Gates!" If anyone's life is sad, it'd be mine.**

**Disclaimer: **_***tallies off 500**__**th**__** time***_** I, PythianPickles, do not own Avatar: the Last Airbender or any of its associated subsidiaries or characters.**

* * *

**Part VII: Suki and the Suspiciously Large Beard**

"Besides, what is a person, anyway?" the assassin taunted Aang, circling around a dead body. "Some muscles…some _water_…I believe your precious waterbender here learned that when she met that hag Hama." He paused to kick the body in the face.

Aang felt like a part of him had died and gone straight to hell. "W—why? Why kill h-her? What do you want?" he asked, taking deep heaving breaths. His tattoos flickered on and off spasmodically.

"What I _want_, Avatar Aang, is your death!" the assassin roared. With a growl like a panther, he lunged forwards, knife plunging towards Aang's throat…

…and Aang hit his head hard on the headboard of his bed. _Spirits, they're coming back!_ Aang thought as he struggled to gather himself. _They're coming back…need to talk to Roku!_

"Hey, Avatar Aang. You alright?" a female voice interrupted his chain of thought.

_I'm fine, thanks for your concern_, Aang thought, preparing to tell the nurse just that. Wait a minute… "Suki?"

"Hi…" Suki affirmed, waving tentatively.

"Why'd you call me Avatar Aang?" Aang probed inquisitively. Sitting up, he tried to pretend that nothing was happening and that he'd just had a fitful sleep. Glancing out the window, he noticed that it was nighttime. _Wow, I really slept…_

"Oh, well, when I ran into Katara on the way here, she said to call you Avatar Aang. Said you preferred that type of address now."

"That's ridiculous, Suki! You're one of my closest friends, there's no need to do something like that." Aang protested. He was starting to calm down, and the sweat was starting to cool from his nightmare. "So, when'd you get here? I thought the Kyoshi Warriors were guarding Zuko after that assassination attempt."

"We _were_, but I decided to take a quick visit here since I heard you were coming here and I hadn't seen you in six years," Suki explained. "Don't worry; I left Ty Lee in charge. She's a pretty good fighter, despite her cheerful attitude."

"I know," Aang said. "We fought her before, remember?"

"Oh right. Haha. So," Suki said, trying to avoid the subject of past battles, "what were you dreaming about? It seemed pretty intense to me."

Aang paled. "Oh, nothing," he said. "Just…uh…a ride on Appa. Yeah! A ride on Appa," he repeated weakly, as if trying to convince himself.

Suki's eyes narrowed suspiciously. "_Really, now_? You were murmuring Katara's name a lot."

"I…I was?" Aang cursed his habit of sleeptalking.

"Yep. So what were you _really_ dreaming about? Promise I won't tell Katara," Suki said, trying to pry the truth out of Aang.

Aang could see that only one answer was going to get him out of this mess.

"Fine, uh…" he said. "Come closer," he whispered, glancing around. "I was dreaming about…uh…proposing to Katara," he pretended to explain.

Suki blinked.

"Heh heh…yeah…sorry…" Aang spluttered.

All of a sudden, Suki's face burst into a wide grin. "What are you talking about?" she gushed. "THAT'S SO CUTE!" she crowed. "Just wait until I tell Sokka!" she continued, unconsciously rubbing her hands together.

Aang pinched the bridge of his newly healed nose. _Errgh…_ "Look, Suki, I'd really appreciate it if you didn't tell Sokka…" he pleaded. _Especially since that's not what I was dreaming about…and Sokka will tell Toph and Toph will tell Katara…_

"Yes, yes, I'm sure you want to surprise Katara," Suki said, waving her hand dismissively. "Well, it's been nice to see you again after six years! I'm off to find Sokka!" With that, Suki closed the door gently and walked off.

Aang stared at the closing door weakly. He was pretty sure there was something he was forgetting…

He still had a discussion with the town elders, and an inspection to make!

Aang burst out of bed, barely pausing to grab his staff. Starting down the stairs, he had barely made it to the healing center's exit when a voice yelled out from behind him. "Where do you think you're going, Avatar?"

Aang looked back quickly. An old man with a voluminous white beard and a walking stick was waving his stick in his direction. "Uh, look, I've got a meeting to go to—" he started to explain.

"No, no, that meeting was cancelled! You have to get some rest! Back to bed! Shoo!" the man scolded, waving in the direction of the stairs.

"Uh…I think I'm fine…" Aang tried feebly. Once again, he turned towards the door.

"You _think_! Who is the healer here, you, or me?" the man yelled indignantly. "You still have a concussion!" he said accusingly.

Aang winced. For an elderly man, this guy could _really_ shout. "Uh…my head feels fine…"

"Nonononono. That's just the _painkillers_!" the man reprimanded.

"Oh…"

"Get upstairs right now!"

"Yes sir…"

* * *

As the Avatar ran back up the stairs, the man walked out the doors. Glancing about furtively, he detached his mustache from its place.

"That went as planned."

The owner of Top New Foreign Imports nodded in response, saying, "The Avatar is such a softie, it's a wonder he ever managed to defeat our Fire Lord," he said. He tucked his false beard into his belt.

"We'll fix that tonight."

"Yes…we will," the merchant replied. "Or rather, _you_ will, and then you'll receive your payment. Do not fail us," he warned. "The Head Phoenix would not take your failure lightly." Deciding that his belt was too obvious for a false beard, he stuck the beard back onto his face.

"In all the hundreds of jobs I've taken, I have never missed my mark," the mercenary countered. "It is you who should be worrying. Be sure to have the gold, or there will be a new victim on my list after I deal with this one."

"Remember, the Head wants the Avatar _alive_," the merchant reminded. "We do not need a new Avatar being born where we have no grasp on them. I've made sure that the Avatar will be staying the night. What comes next is your job."

"By tomorrow, your precious Head Phoenix will be ready to assume command," the assassin assured. "Be prepared to celebrate the rise of the Fire Nation anew."

* * *

Aang moaned. He was afraid to sleep any more for fear of more nightmares, but he didn't have the energy for an all-night vigil. _Speaking of nightmares,_ Aang realized, _I can use this night to talk to Avatar Roku about them! Now I just have to make sure no one disturbs me…_ Aang hopped off his bed and ran to the door, poking his head out.

"Excuse me?" he called into the hallway. A nurse answered his call, looking mildly afraid to be in the presence of the mighty Avatar.

"Yes?" she inquired.

"I've decided to take a night-long journey into the Spirit World for some advice, so, uh, can you not bring dinner and not disturb me?" Aang asked.

"Of course!" the nurse replied, bowing. "I'll go inform the entire healing center," she declared, rushing off.

"Thanks!" Aang called after her. Closing his door, he climbed back onto his bed and began to clear his mind.

* * *

"Attention! Attention!" the nurse shouted.

All the workers and nurses momentarily slowed and stared at her.

"The Avatar has requested me to inform you that he will not be taking dinner for he is taking a night-long journey into the Spirit World!" the nurse yelled. The entire hall nodded their understanding and resumed their duties.

One man was sweeping the floor when a hiss came from a nearby window. "Did you hear that?"

The man silently nodded towards the window and continued to sweep nonchalantly.

_Perfect_, he thought, quickly checking that his trusty knives were in place.

* * *

**Well, first combat scene I've ever written coming up soon! I'll try not to make that too cliché, but that's probably not gonna happen. Knowing my luck, it'll be something like "Aang dodged every single blow and proceeded to kill the assassin instantly." Not happening, by the way. I have something a little...different in mind. *coughs***

**Until next time…**

**PythianPickles out!**

**Au revoir.**


	8. If a, then b

**Let's get this show on the road!**

**Disclaimer: I. Don't. Own. Avatar. Period. Period. Period. Aposiopesis.**

* * *

**Part VIII: If a, then b**

Toph had had enough.

"For Spirits' sake, Sugar Queen, stop pacing!" she yelled.

Katara paused remorsefully, one foot in the air, before resuming her pacing. "Sorry…"

Toph slammed her foot into the floor, tripping Katara and bending a chair out of the floor to break her fall. "Sorry _usually_ means that you'll stop doing it," she snapped. "Now sit."

"Fine…" Katara started drumming her fingers restlessly on the rough chair.

Toph groaned. "Sugar Queen, do you think you could stop moving for even a second?" she gritted out.

"Yes…" –twitch– "…no."

"What are you thinking about? Twinkletoes?" Toph asked.

"No…" Katara refuted weakly.

"I can tell you're lying…" Toph reminded in a singsong voice.

"Daaagh! Fine, Toph, so I _was_! But it's none of your business!" Katara yelled. It was her turn to be angry.

"Why? Anything _private_?" Toph prodded. "Anything that a little girly-girl like me shouldn't know about?" Toph continued to tease.

"No…"

"Wow, you're denying a lot of stuff, aren't you?" Toph badgered.

"Look, Toph, if you really want to know, I'm just wondering how you and Sokka can seem so happy and normal around Aang after…after what he wrote!" Katara said.

"Oh, you mean that _distractions_ thing? Well, me and Snoozles _are_ pretty distracting." Toph replied.

"No you're not." _Not so distracting that Aang would try and leave us forever…_ Katara thought to herself.

"Well…remember that one time Twinkletoes was trying to meditate after the war ended?"

"Toph, one prank wouldn't make Aang leave forever and you _know_ it," Katara countered. "We must've done something else…"

Toph was silent.

"Toph?" Katara asked, concerned. What had been a lighthearted (on Toph's part, at least) session of bantering had taken a slightly more serious tone.

"Look…me and Snoozles…" Toph began nervously.

"What? Sokka's cheating on Suki?" Katara asked in shock.

"NO!" Toph yelled, cheeks turning pink. "No…we just thought…"

"What, Toph?" Katara queried gently.

Toph seemed to come to an important decision. "You're right," she said firmly.

"I am?" Katara answered, blinking in bewilderment.

"You want to know why me and Snoozles aren't angry that Twinkletoes called us _distractions_?" Toph started.

"Sure, that would help," Katara replied. _A lot_, she added silently.

"We don't…" Toph hesitated.

"What?"

"…we don't think that's why he left." Toph finished.

Katara blinked. Then she scoffed bitterly. "Toph, just because you suddenly feel like—"

"—_no,_ listen, Katara." Toph interrupted. "We both know that Twinkletoes has the hots for you—"

Katara flushed. "N-no…we're just good friends…"

"Really? Then what about Ember Island?" Toph parried. "Now come on, back to the subj—"

"—how do you even _know_ about that?" Katara interjected nervously.

"Oh please, Sugar Queen, after you came back from finding Twinkletoes, your heart was racing. _Something_ must've happened," came the brooding reply. "Now really, I want to talk about—"

"—Toph—"

"Katara…" Toph said warningly. "I'm gonna stop talking about this if you keep on cutting in."

"Fine…"

"Now listen, and no interrupting," Toph started anew. "We both know that Twinkletoes has the hots for you…"

Katara opened her mouth to protest, but slowly closed it again at Toph's warning look.

"Just go with it, ok?" Toph told her. "Anyways, Twinkletoes wouldn't leave us, _you_ especially, just because we were distracting him."

"How do you know?" Katara demanded.

"Are you kidding? We're his closest friends. Besides, Twinkletoes isn't the type of person to leave his friends for a measly _distraction_. You told me once that when you first met him, he sacrificed himself to save you and your village," Toph reminded. "A guy like that wouldn't leave his '_eternal love_' just because she was distracting. In more than one way, if you know what I mean."

"Yes, Toph, I know what you mean. And Aang is _not _my eternal love. But still…then why would he leave?" Katara wondered.

"So, this is where Sokka came in," Toph told her. "Again, he told me about that time you were at that village. Were you really attacked by a giant panda spirit?"

"Yes. What does this have to do with anything?"

"Huh, thought he was lying."

"_Toph!"_

"Yeah, yeah. Calm down, will you? Anyway, you remember what happened before you people left to go take Twinkletoes to that temple thing?"

"Oh yeah…" Katara remembered.

* * *

_Flashback (seven to eight years ago)_

"_Katara."_

"_Mmmm…what?" Katara grumbled. "Go away, Sokka."_

"_It's Aang. He's saddling up Appa. I think he's going to leave without us!" came the furtive whisper._

_That did it._

_Within a minute, Katara was dressed and running to Aang and Appa._

"_Aang seems to be having some trouble sneaking off without us," Sokka whispered in satisfaction._

"…_look, I'm sorry, but Katara and Sokka aren't coming to the Fire Nation with us. If they got hurt, I'd never forgive myself. So get your big butt off the ground and let's go!" The statement was punctuated with the sound of Aang's body hitting the ground._

"_No kidding, Sokka." Katara whispered back. She turned to see that her brother was no longer next to her. "Sokka?"_

"_I think his big butt is trying to tell ya something," Sokka told Aang. _

_With a slight look of surprise, Katara noticed that Sokka was yelling to Aang and was standing in the open, together with some village elders. She quickly rushed over…_

* * *

"…Aang was trying to leave us behind for our protection," Katara recalled. "We convinced him to let us go with him…but still, what does this have to do with anything?"

Toph sat there dumbfounded a moment before bursting out into loud waves of laughter. "Oh…Sugar Queen…" she managed to gasp out between chuckles. "You're…really…dumb…aren't you?"

"What? What am I missing?" Katara asked, annoyed.

"Think," Toph commanded. "Twinkletoes left last time because he wanted to protect you. After the war, we heard about some 'Rising Phoenixes' group, remember?"

"Yeah, from Mai…"

"What's to stop him from leaving us again to try and protect us from _them_?" Toph said. "He seems to like doing that, leaving to protect us."

Katara sat openmouthed.

"If a, then b," Toph concluded smugly.

"So…" Katara murmured. Her eyes were suspiciously shiny. "Aang doesn't think I'm a…a…unwanted distraction?"

"Of course not!" Toph cried. "Not _unwanted_, anyway. Does this mean you'll stop pacing and twitching?"

"I need to go apologize to Aang!" Katara cried, ignoring her. "I was so nasty to him when we saw each other last time…" Katara rushed towards the door, then stopped momentarily.

"Did you really figure this all out by yourself?" she asked Toph.

"Oh, no, it was all Snoozles. I stole my whole 'speech' from him, you know. Especially that last part. Only Snoozles could think up something as dorky as that."

Katara shook her head before turning and running out the door towards the healing center.

Toph followed stealthily. _Oh, this should be good,_ she thought.

* * *

With the familiar sensation of falling, Aang found himself in the Spirit World. This time, he was in a pagoda in the middle of misty rolling hills. Avatar Roku sat before him.

"Hello, Aang. It's been a while," Roku greeted.

"Hey, Roku. I have a problem…the dreams are back. After six years," Aang replied. "What did I do, Roku? Is this actually because of the Spirits? Or is it just me being nervous around my friends?"

"Aang. I told you six years ago that there was a possibility that the Old Ones had sent you a dream to warn you of a possible future where your friends would be held hostage," Roku started.

"Yeah, I remember. Of course I remember…there hasn't been a night or day where I haven't thought about it."

"Aang, have you even considered your decision to come here logically _at all_?" Roku's tone was unmistakably sharp.

"No, but—there was no time, Earth King Kuei and the Lotuses wanted me to come—"

"And they, I suppose, don't know about your dreams."

Aang's face flushed guiltily. "No…"

"And then you publicly announce—"

"Roku, what was I _supposed_ to do? Sneak in here like an intruder?" Aang protested.

"It would have been preferable to coming here and reassociating with your friends once again," came the harsh reply.

"What are you talking about?" Aang said. "I've barely—"

"_You have made your dwelling the same location as theirs_," Roku said. "I know of this. I have seen it."

"But still…"

"By coming to the Southern Water Tribe, you have endangered your friends anew. And I sense—" Roku's eyes suddenly closed.

"Roku? Hello?" Aang prompted. "Helloooo?" he said, waving his hands in front of Roku's face.

Roku's eyes snapped open with an incandescent flash of white light. His eyes were glowing white.

"You must go," the voice of a thousand Avatars said. "We are in danger."

And with that, Roku engulfed Aang's form in a firestorm, booting him back to his body.

Aang's eyes snapped open just in time to hear the whistle of a knife being thrown.

* * *

**I said a combat scene was **_**coming up**_**, not that it would be in this chapter per se.**

**For me, the dialogue where Katara is told by Toph that Aang didn't leave her because he thought she was a distraction was actually quite awkward to write. I hope it flowed well and wasn't too awkward for you to **_**read**_**.**

**Read and review, please, I'd like to know how I did! :D**

**PythianPickles out!**


	9. The Most Peaceful Chapter Ever

**Um. HERE WE GOES!**

**I'll talk more about update schedules and such at the end of the story, so read my usual author's note this time.**

**Disclaimer: Idon'townavatarthelastairbenderletsgetontothestorynow *pant pant***

* * *

**Chapter IX: The Most Peaceful Chapter Ever**

Without hesitation, Aang slammed his palms together, creating a powerful expanding sphere of wind that tossed both the knife and its thrower against the wall.

Aang realized it wasn't a good idea to use powerful airbending attacks in a building composed mainly of ice and wood as the entire building groaned ominously. There were injured people in the rooms, and he couldn't risk hurting or even killing them with a hasty move. Resolving to stick to light techniques, he scrambled off the bed and started approaching his attacker cautiously, settling into a combat stance. "Who are you?" he demanded. "Why are you trying to kill me?"

No answer came, and Aang started to think that the man had been knocked unconscious by the collision with the wall. Aang loosened his stance slightly.

If he hadn't been trained by the monks to dodge split-second attacks, Aang would've been bowled over and incapacitated in seconds by the attack that came next.

The man suddenly threw his head up, and with a bloodcurdling shout, he leaped forward and started slashing violently at Aang. Aang ducked the first blow, sidestepped the second, and jumped back across the room, over the bed, as the man tried a low slash at his stomach. Aang landed lightly in a crouch. "You know," Aang told the man, attempting to elicit a response, "killing me will make a new Avatar where you'll have a much harder time finding and killing them."

Aang heard what sounded like a bitter laugh, followed by a low growl. "Why would I _kill_ you, Avatar? I would not receive my pay—" The man cut off in mid-sentence and threw another knife at Aang, attempting to throw him off. The knife suddenly veered up and embedded itself into the ceiling seconds before reaching Aang.

Aang wondered if the man had realized the idiocy of throwing things through the air at an _air_bender.

Apparently he had, because he whipped out another knife, but kept it in his hand, slowly moving closer.

Aang readied himself for the next attack and prepared for his own. _Evading time is over_, he thought.

The assassin started creeping forwards, but stopped as Aang froze his feet to the floor. Undaunted, he reached down and shattered the ice, leaping towards Aang.

Aang stumbled in surprise...

* * *

As Katara hurried towards the healing center, prepared to make a heartfelt apology to Aang, she suddenly saw powdered ice blow out of a window in a violent spurt. A strong gust of wind and a rumble followed.

_I haven't felt wind like that since six years ago_, Katara realized. _Not since that attack on Aang—_

Katara began to run as quickly as she could.

Behind her, Toph followed, realizing too that something was wrong. She grinned to herself, anticipating a long-awaited opportunity to do some serious earthbending.

"Hey, Sugar Queen, wait up!"

"Toph?"

* * *

The assassin immediately surged forward, moving to take advantage of Aang's temporary loss of balance. His knife hand came down, headed for Aang's shoulder…

…and Aang caught the hand and knocked the knife out of it.

His opponent immediately launched into a full-blown punch to Aang's face with his other hand.

Aang felt like his face had been struck with a blunt arrow, and the force of the blow sent him reeling onto the floor with a moan of pain. He was pretty sure his nose had been broken all over again.

"You airbenders," the man growled. "So predictable. My father was part of the group that destroyed the Southern Air Temple one hundred years ago. We figured out your methods of attack a long time ago."

"How about a waterbender?" a voice rang through the room.

Aang thought he vaguely recognized the voice. "Katara?" he croaked. He started making weak attempts to get up again.

Turning slightly, the man noticed Aang's motion and withdrawing yet _another_ knife, he ruthlessly plunged it into Aang's shoulder.

If Aang had thought the pain of a broken nose was something, this completely rewrote his definition of _pain_.

With an agonized scream, he fell back to the ground and started clutching at his shoulder and thrashing, trying to pull the knife out.

"Aang!" Katara cried in horror. Behind her, what sounded like Toph's voice cried out, "You're gonna pay for what you did to Twinkletoes!"

With a dark chuckle, the man put Aang over his shoulder and began sprinting to the window.

He never made it.

The assassin's feet suddenly froze to the floor, and he crashed facefirst into the ground. Aang went flying towards the open window, convinced that a waterbending Avatar was about to be born in about ten seconds. He was in no condition to airbend.

The icy window suddenly refroze into a wall, as Katara desperately put all her energy into halting Aang's flight. Aang crashed into the newly made wall and fell to the ground with another tortured scream. The impact had driven the knife almost completely through his shoulder. Blood was splattered all over the room.

"Aang…" was the last thing he heard before he lapsed into the relief of unconsciousness.

* * *

"You were lucky, Aang."

"What?" Aang blinked slowly. He was in someone's house, heaped with furs and carpets. A fire burned brightly, and the light was blinding after the darkness he had been in. Roku was sitting at a table, taking a sip of tea.

"Your friends intervened in time to save you. You did not stand a chance against that man. Your adversaries chose your opponent well," Roku said.

"Roku? How are you talking to me? Isn't this the physical world?" Aang asked in confusion. He got up and accepted Roku's invitation to sit at the table.

"In times of great injury, the Avatar's spirit will flee to the Spirit World so it doesn't die with the body," Roku explained, once Aang had seated himself. "Right now, your waterbender friend is healing your body while you rest here. The Avatar is different, you see. The Spirit is connected to the body more than an ordinary human soul, yet it can leave easily too."

"Oh."

"Do you see why I was so angry that you came without consulting me?" Roku said. "I feared an attack like this."

"I'm sorry, Roku. Do you think I should leave?" Aang asked tentatively. He hated this decision, but if assassins and hired blades were going to follow him around, the last thing he wanted were his friends with him, ready to be used as hostages.

"You made a promise to the Earth King and the Order, and you must keep it," Roku replied. "You have dug yourself quite a hole," he said sadly, taking a sip of tea.

"Roku, I think there's something I _can_ do…" Aang said. "You mind if I do this?"

Roku listened intently as Aang explained his idea. When he had finished, Roku nodded his support. "As long as you do not reveal yourself, your plan will succeed," Roku approved.

Aang rose from the table and bowed to Roku. "Thank you for your advice, Roku," he said.

"You are welcome, Aang," Roku answered. "Now it is time for you to go back and see your friends."

* * *

"Ngggh…"

"Guys, I think Twinkletoes is awake!" Toph whispered.

The others, who had been waiting in a silent vigil at Aang's bedside for hours, looked up from their various activities.

Katara immediately rushed over to Aang's side. "Aang! Aang!" she whispered urgently.

"Mmmm…Katara?" Aang murmured. He struggled to sit up, but as soon as he put weight on his left hand, a sharp pain shot through his shoulder and back, and he fell back down with a moan of pain.

"Don't try to get up yet, Aang," Katara cautioned. "We tried the best we could, but your shoulder needs some time to heal on its own. Don't try to use it," she advised gently.

"But I need to fly away and leave you guys on Appa…" Aang murmured. Suddenly, his eyes flew open in panic, a moment of clarity piercing the haze his mind was in. "Did I just say—"

The entire group was standing around him, looking at him silently, with a look of disapproval on their faces.

"Oh, I guess I did," Aang muttered.

* * *

**Wow. That was **_**really**_** hard for me to write, and I scrapped that fight scene three times before giving up and keeping the fourth try. I will never read another fight scene without appreciating the mastery of writing involved. Whew. That passage felt really chunky…**

…**tell me how I did on that, please.**

**But now about update schedules. The reason I've had time before to write three chapters and an oneshot in one day (like yesterday) was because in my area, the Northeast, there's been tons of snow. That amounts to lots of snow days, or in other words, writing time. But for the most part, on weekdays, expect one chapter every two days or so. On weekends, expect one to two, maybe three if I'm feeling great, per day. Yeah. And maybe the occasional oneshot.**

**PythianPickles out, really hoping that I haven't lost a bunch of you with that terrible fight scene. Sigh…well, it had to happen sometime.**


	10. Look, Guys

**I'm not entirely sure anyone is still reading this, but to those who are…**

…**thanks for reading. Thank you for all your feedback and stuff, and I'll go and finish this story whether or not you guys are reading it because I know how annoying it is to read an unfinished one. Well, here we go.**

**Disclaimer: No, I don't own ATLA.**

* * *

**Chapter X: Look, Guys…**

"Look, guys," Aang started. "It's nothing personal but…"

"We get it, Aang," Sokka cut in. "Just…try not to leave for six years again, okay?"

"I'll come back," Aang promised.

No one in the room looked like they believed that statement, but they nodded anyways.

"Just…when you get out of here, come find us, Twinkletoes," Toph pleaded. "We'll have a going away party."

"A proper goodbye," Sokka elaborated.

Aang looked at his red and inflamed shoulder. "I'm not sure when I _can_ get out of here, after that knife…" A thought came to him. "How do you know other assassins won't come?" he demanded.

"You…you were…uh…_out_, for a while," Katara answered timidly. "I asked Dad and he put some guards around the place."

"But how do you know that someone won't climb in through the wind—" Aang looked over at the window, which had been replaced by a wall. "…oh," Aang finished lamely.

"And your shoulder…I think just one more healing session should do it," Katara continued.

In wonderment, Aang glanced at his shoulder. "Are…are you sure?" Aang asked dubiously. "Not that I'm doubting you guys, but it looks kind of…you know," he said, gesturing at his shoulder.

"Oh, it's really awesome what the healers can do, Aang," Sokka replied. "When they first found you we could see some bone, and the muscles were all torn and blood was everywhere and…"

Sokka slowly cut off as he realized that everyone in the room was glaring at him. "R-right," Sokka said, hands up in a calming motion. "I'll just be waiting outside, then…" Sokka walked quickly backwards and shut the door.

Everyone looked at each other for a moment, then burst out in laughter. Aang laughed along with them. It felt so great after such a long period of cheerlessness and sorrow. _Same old Sokka,_ he thought.

"Well," Toph said, "I think Sweetness here should start giving Twinkletoes the healing session she talked about earlier so we can have our going away party!" With that, she exited the door, dragging Suki after her.

"Feel better Aang!" Suki called as Toph dragged her away and shut the door.

Aang and Katara were left staring at each other awkwardly.

Aang stared deeply into Katara's eyes, and he was dimly aware that Katara was doing the same. Then, with a jolt, he realized what he was doing and began rubbing the back of his neck nervously. "So!" he began, "uh…"

"Right, heh, yeah," Katara said nervously, beginning to blush, "uh…can you sit at the edge of the bed?"

Aang did as he was told as best he could, without moving or putting too much weight on his injured shoulder. Katara then knelt down and started healing his shoulder using some water from nearby bowls.

As the relaxing tingly massaging feeling of healing began to course through his body, Aang became painfully aware of the proximity of Katara's face to his. Especially her lips. Aang strongly resisted the urge to lean over and kiss her. The soothing feeling of healing began to fade away, beginning to be replaced by…

"Aang."

Said Avatar snapped out of his daze with a shock, realizing that he was staring very intensely at Katara's lips. His cheeks felt oddly warm, and he suspected that they were as red as cherries. The sight of Katara's lips was suddenly replaced by a pair of cerulean eyes. "Are you okay?" she asked in concern. "You were just staring into space…"

_Well, not exactly _space, Aang thought, but he responded with, "Yeah, I'm fine."

"Take a look at your shoulder," Katara suggested. She set the bowl on a drawer, later to be refilled.

Turning his head to the left, Aang inspected his shoulder.

It looked as good as new.

Rotating his shoulder, Aang realized that it was perfectly restored. Compared to this, his right shoulder felt decrepit and creaky! "Thank you," he breathed. Before he knew what he was doing, he was hugging Katara.

"You're welcome," Katara said into his shoulder.

"No, but really, thank you," Aang repeated.

"Uh…you're welcome? Again?" Katara replied bemusedly.

"Thanks for saving me and healing me," Aang said. "Even though I was so nasty to you."

Katara lifted her head out of Aang's embrace and stepped back. "Actually, Aang, I wanted to…uh…" she started, looking at the ground.

"What?" Aang asked gently.

"Apologize," Katara finished in a voice so low that Aang doubted that she had even spoken for a second. Then she looked up, eyes shining with regret, and in a rush, said, "I'mreallysorryforbeingsomeantoyoulikelasttimewemetandIhopewecanstillbefriendseventhoughIwasinsultingyouandbeingnasty."

Aang laughed. "What are _you_ apologizing for?" Aang said. Internally, he was shining with happiness, but he knew that he had deserved every moment of Katara's wrath. "It's _me_ who should be apologizing, for leaving without saying goodbye, for pretending that I didn't know you at all, for knocking you out, and for kissing you at Ember Island." Aang's spirits sunk a little when he remembered what had happened that night, but he was happy to get it off his chest.

Katara looked down, blushing at the mention of the last event. "You know," she started, cheeks pink, "the night you, uh, left, I was going to tell you—" Katara was suddenly interrupted as the door swung open.

"So how's the healing going?" Sokka said. "Can we have the going away party?" When no response came he asked curiously, "Why are you both glaring at me?"

* * *

**Well. Going away party next chappie, and then you find out Aang's plan! If you don't guess it first, that is.**

**Please read and review!**

**PythianPickles out.**


	11. Goodbye for now, right?

**So, review response first!**

**Guest: I don't know your name, but I honestly forgot about Momo. So he's not here. Oh well ^_^ I'm not entirely sure that he's a major turning point of the story though…Momo's usually used as comic relief except in some episodes. As for Appa, Aang would think of him differently, since Appa can fly and is several tons and is exceptionally strong as a sky bison. Something his friends don't have. Also, if you look at the canon episode "The Winter Solstice," Aang tries to leave his friends behind on Appa there too. So it's not unexpected that he would do the same here.**

**trisz72: Thanks! I try to update as quickly as I can. And the chapters are short because it's hard for me to write really long chapters without getting stretched really thin.**

**In other news…well, snow days are over. For now. And I got a new cover image for this story. Didn't make it myself, just Googled "Aang and Katara silhouette," and boom! First image.**

**Disclaimer: I don't own Avatar: the Last Airbender. Duh. Can we stop this now? I'm running out of ways to say it…**

* * *

**Chapter XI: Goodbye for now…right?**

"_You want answers?" the assassin taunted. "Well, you'll have to get them soon, because I will be dead soon. Too bad I'm not telling you anything."_

_Hakoda looked through the bars grimly. "What makes you think you'll be dead? We have you chained. You are in the most secure prison we have. And we _will_ persuade you to give us answers."_

_Chuckling grimly, the assassin replied, "My sponsors are not the types to leave loose ends."_

_Leaning forward, Hakoda said, "Why not tell us everything you know, then? You must be for hire. It's not like you have any real allegiance to them."_

"_I may not be part of them, but I will not sell them out. I support the _real_ Fire Lo—"_

_Loud coughs and gurgles sounded through the interrogation room as the assassin began choking and spitting violently, his face slowly turning purple. "It—" he managed to choke out, "—begins."_

"_Healer! We need a healer!" Hakoda shouted out. He could not let his only lead on the man's sponsors die._

_By the time the healers arrived, the man was long dea—_

"Dad?" Katara asked in concern.

"Yes, Katara?" Hakoda replied. He realized he had been staring at his hands, clenching and unclenching them rapidly.

"How did the interrogation of the assassin go?" Katara inquired. "Did you find out anything about who hired him and why they were trying to get to Aang?"

"Oh, uh…" Hakoda wasn't sure how to answer. "He…passed away before we could get anything out of him," he responded gently.

"What?" Katara sat slackjawed for a moment before collecting herself. "How did he die?" she asked. "Wasn't he almost as well guarded as Aang was after the attack?"

"The healers looked at his body after he died, and we think he was poisoned," Hakoda explained grimly. "Apparently he wasn't kidding when he said his sponsors wouldn't leave any loose ends."

"What did you get before he died?" Katara asked. She winced for a moment. "Sorry, Dad, I don't mean to be uncaring, but, well, you know…"

"Don't worry, Katara," Hakoda assured. "I would feel the same if someone attacked your mother," he said, face darkening at the last statement.

Katara blushed slightly. "Dad, nothing's between me and Aang," she protested. "We're just good friends—"

"Well, that's what I told your Gran-Gran too," Hakoda interrupted, smirking. Interrupting his daughter's increasingly abashed protests, he said, "Don't you have a going away party for Aang to get to?"

Katara straightened. "O-oh right!" Katara rushed out of Hakoda's room and rushed downstairs.

Hakoda chuckled. "Kya, I wish you were here," he sighed, expression growing sad.

* * *

When Katara came down the stairs, she was surprised to see that Toph, Suki, and Sokka were actually agreeing on something.

"Aang, you need to eat some sea prunes!" Sokka pleaded, holding the aforementioned treat in front of Aang's face.

"Uh, n-no thanks, Sokka," Aang said as politely as he could. "Don't you remember what happened last time with Bato—"

"You're _nineteen_ now!" Sokka interjected. "Maybe your tastes changed or something…come on, you've _got_ to try these before you leave!"

"Yeah, Twinkletoes! These are _great_! Don't you have any guts?" Toph yelled.

"Not helping," Suki whispered to Toph.

Katara smiled as she remembered Aang's first reaction to sea prunes, immediately spitting them out. The smile froze on her face as she wistfully thought, _Oh, those were the good old days. Aang didn't leave for years on end, and we could just travel together…_ Shaking her head to try and ward away her lingering sadness over Aang's impending departure, Katara made her way to the table.

Sokka turned and noticed her, and his expression turned grim. "So, what did Dad say about the assassin?" he asked.

"Oh, uh, the assassin…expired…before Dad could get any info," Katara responded tentatively. "He was poisoned." Changing the subject, Katara said, "So, what's happening here?"

Seeming to forget about the grim matter at hand, Sokka answered, "Can you get Aang here to eat some sea prunes before he leaves?"

"Are you all really gonna force Aang to eat something he doesn't want to before he leaves us for…" Katara trailed off, looking quizzically at Aang.

"A few months," Aang said, answering the unspoken question. "I think," he continued, looking down at his hands.

A silence settled over the room.

"Well, this is the worst party ever," Toph cut in. "Let's play some games!"

Everyone looked at Sokka.

"What?" he complained, raising his palms. "Fine, look, there's this one game…"

* * *

As the night wore on, Aang became increasingly aware of the fact that he was supposed to be leaving all of this tomorrow. _Which makes it even more important that my plan works,_ he thought to himself.

In the middle of the fiftieth game of tag, Aang slowed to a stop, hands on his knees. "I…think…" he panted, "that…this…is…enough…for…tonight."

Everything ground to a halt.

"But it's only nine o'candle!" Sokka protested. Leaning forward, he tapped Aang quickly on the arm before running to the other side of the room and yelling, "You're it!"

Aang waited for Sokka to calm down before explaining, "Look, I'm not dragging you _all_ to bed with me, it's just that I have a long day of travel tomorrow and stuff…sorry guys," Aang apologized. He guiltily ascended the stairs, aware of the silence that he was leaving behind.

Everyone glanced at each other out of the corner of their eye. Toph, as usual, broke the silence first.

"Well, I don't know about you guys, but I'm whipped," Toph said. "See ya tomorrow." The whole group murmured their agreement.

Aang heard the thunder of footsteps behind him and wondered if he had somehow spread his tired vibe to everyone in the house.

* * *

As Aang entered the guest room for the first time in days and lit all the sconces with a display of firebending he was sure Zuko would've been proud of, he noticed something on his desk.

Coming closer, he noticed that the "something" was in actuality a very badly carved boomerang with a note next to it. The note read: _For you to remember us by. –Sokka._

_Well, it's the thought that counts_, Aang thought in amusement. Poking his head out of his door, he was about to yell, "Hey, thanks for the gift!" when he was greeted by the sight of a hallway of closed doors.

Apparently he really _had_ spread his tired vibe.

Exhaling quietly, Aang went back into his room and sat on his bed, still holding the boomerang in his hands. He flipped it over in his hands a few times before groaning and flopping down on his bed, not bothering to extinguish the torches. Closing his eyes, Aang was about to try and fall asleep when he suddenly heard a knock on his door.

"Coming!" he called out quietly as he approached the door, not wanting to wake the others. When he opened the door, he almost reeled back in surprise after seeing his visitor.

Katara stood there, a very timid look on her face. "Hey, Aang," she began nervously.

"Hey Katara, what do you need?" Aang responded politely. His cheeks began to darken as he remembered his dream from that night…

"Look, Suki and I had a talk and she persuaded me to go and talk to you before you left tomorrow," Katara said. "I never got to finish at the healing center…"

"…because Sokka interrupted us for the party," Aang remembered. "Thanks for the party, by the way."

"No problem," Katara answered. "Really, we all wanted to give you a good sendoff instead of what happened last time…"

"Right," Aang said somewhat awkwardly. "So what did you come to talk to me about?" he blurted.

"Oh, uh…" Katara started, looking at her feet. "I…just…before you left tomorrow…uh…well…"

"Yeah?" Aang responded gently. This was reminding him more and more of Katara's apology to him at the healing center.

"Look…uh…Suki…uh…well…you see…" Katara ground to a halt. "Screw it," she muttered under her breath. Looking up, she said to Aang bluntly, "Remember Ember Island?"

"Yes," Aang replied, looking down. "Look, I already apologized for tha—" He paused when he noticed Katara's expression. "Go on," he said.

"I just wanted you to know…I'm not confused anymore," Katara said quickly. With that, she turned and sprinted back to her door, closing it loudly.

All Aang could do was stare at her closed door like an idiot.

* * *

"Goodbye, everyone!" Aang said, waving from atop Appa. "I'm sorry that I couldn't see all the wonderful preparations you made, but due to personal reasons and an attack that you may have heard about, I'll have to leave the Southern Water Tribe for a few months or more," he said.

The crowd waved farewell with understanding expressions, though some were looking unhappy at the prospect of having wasted time preparing for the Avatar.

"Everyone, you might want to stand back for this part," Aang advised. Everyone did as commanded.

"Yip yip!" Aang cried. With a slam of his tail that knocked over a cabbage stand, Appa took off into the sky.

The crowd watched Aang's form disappear into the distance before dispersing and going their various ways.

All except for four friends, who stood and stared at the place that they had last seen Aang.

"I really hope he comes back," Sokka murmured, sniffling. Suki laid her head on his shoulder. Suddenly her head jerked up again. "Toph, are you crying?" she teased.

"N-no," Toph protested. "J-just…I have something in my eye."

"Aang will come back," Katara said in determination. "You'll see…just wait a few months…he'll come back. He has to," she muttered to herself.

* * *

A hooded figure, dressed all in black, raced through the night. Below him, the sounds of guards' chuckles wafted up from a street. The figure froze, determined not to let the guards notice him.

"Yeah, I know, right? My mom was really mad that the Avatar left early…" one of the guards was saying.

The figure shifted, creating a moderately loud scraping sound. He winced.

Both guards looked up. They saw nothing but the night sky. "Must've been the wind or something," the other guard assured.

In Hakoda's house, the front door opened slowly, letting in a gust of cold wind. Carefully avoiding protruding objects and ceramics, the figure made his way up the back stairs.

Now a gauntlet lay before him: the hallway with its creaky wood floor.

Stepping carefully, the figure tiptoed across the floor.

_Creak_.

The figure halted in trepidation. He had stepped on a particularly loose floorboard right in front of someone's door. He waited for a few moments before continuing on. Finally, he reached the guest room. His hand crept towards the kno—

—the figure let out a groan as a mass of water slammed into him and froze him to the wall. "Who are you?" Katara demanded. "What are you doing sneaking into Aan—the Avatar's guest room?"

The figure gave no response.

Preparing to answer her own question, Katara flipped the figure's hood up...

...and gasped in surprise.

"AANG?" she yelled, stepping back. "What are you doing here?"

Aang scowled at her. "Hey, keep it down, will you?" he whispered harshly.

"Too late," a voice called.

Every occupant of the house stood in the hallway, looking at a very embarrassed Aang.

"So," Sokka said, crossing his arms, "what are you doing here?"

* * *

**Okay…I've effectively spilt out Aang's entire plan, except for some minor details, so you should be able to guess what his plan was...in the longest chapter I've ever written...2,254 words.**

**And again, snow days are over for now, so expect a chapter one to two days a week.**

**PythianPickles ou—**

**Oh wait.**

**Read and review please! :D**

**PythianPickles out!**


	12. Sokka, I'm Me

**You know, I had a really weird thought as I wrote this chapter out. For those of you who want to know, read on. If not, just skip ahead. It's not too important. Anyways, the thought was that if I had gone back in time to three months ago and told myself that I would be writing fanfiction, I would've laughed really hard at myself. Go figure.**

**This chapter's a bit longer. Review responses at the end.**

**Disclaimer: I…don't…own…Avatar…the…last…airbender…got…it…?**

* * *

**Chapter XII: Sokka, I'm Me**

_As the Avatar, Aang was supposed to be thousands of years old and a bridge between the oldest spirits of the world and humanity._

_He had never felt more like a kid._

"_Is there a reason you want to trick my entire tribe into thinking that you're gone?" Hakoda asked severely._

_Aang mustered all the adult essence he could feel in his bones and began to explain._

"_Chief, with all due respect, this is the only way for me to inspect them _and _to keep my friends and myself out of danger," he began._

"_How?" Hakoda inquired, raising an eyebrow. From below, the sounds of cooking floated up from the kitchen area as Aang's friends prepared for the going-away party._

"_Do you remember that attempt on my life two days ago?" Aang enquired._

"_Of course," Hakoda answered. "Katara was begging me to post guards, and I am thinking about interrogating the culprit after our conversation here. How could I forget? Is this why you want to make us think you are leaving?" he asked. _

_Aang hesitated before continuing his explanation. He glanced about nervously and made sure that no vibrations were coming from the hallway. Aang leaned forward and lowered his voice. "That's part of it, Chief," he began in a low voice, "but there's something else. I'll tell you because I'll need your approval for this, but you _can't_ tell anyone else. Not even Katara, Sokka, Suki, or Toph. _No one_," he emphasized._

_Hakoda's brow furrowed in confusion. "Why do you want to keep a secret from them?" he asked. "I'm sure they wouldn't betray you—"_

"_That's not it," Aang cut in, interrupting rather rudely. Aang realized his mistake. "Oh, I'm sorry," he apologized._

"_It's fine," Hakoda dismissed. "Go on," he urged._

"_Six years ago, when I first left, it was because of a series of dreams," Aang began._

"_You left Katara and called her a distraction because of some dreams?" Hakoda asked incredulously. "Aang, I thought—"_

"_Chief Hakoda, please excuse my disrespect, but you've got it all wrong," Aang interrupted. "As the Avatar, spirits may send me glimpses of the future," he explained. "And after talking with my past lives, I decided that I didn't want what I saw in those dreams to happen to my friends in real life, so I left."_

"_If I may ask, what happened in those dreams?"_

"_Katara and the others were either killed or held hostage to gain power over me," Aang answered grimly._

_Hakoda sat with a shocked look on his face before sighing. "Aang, I'm sorry for thinking you hurt my daughter willfully," he apologized._

"_It's fine," Aang said. "I probably would've done something like that myself if I were you. Anyways, that's why I left all those years ago, and why I called Katara and the others a distraction, to try and keep them from coming after me," Aang continued. "But right now, I can't just leave. I made a promise to inspect the four nations, and I have to keep it."_

"_How does pretending to leave help matters?" Hakoda asked. "I need to give you authority as the Avatar to inspect peoples' homes thoroughly while they stand by and watch."_

"_That's part of the problem," Aang answered. "Let me ask you, if you didn't know me personally from the invasion and as a good friend of Katara, what would you do if you heard I was coming to your house?"_

"_I would…set up a lot of fancy things," Hakoda replied, eyes widening in realization. "I'd try and hide all the bad stuff…" he trailed off._

"_Exactly," Aang concurred. "While it's nice that people will accept me and I can walk around freely if I'm presented as the Avatar, whatever I see probably will just be a front. If I inspect them in secret—don't worry, Chief, I won't hurt your guards if they find me, I'll just run away—I'll see the real deal."_

"_I see," Hakoda said. "And your friends would be safe without you leaving them for six years again because all the assassins and mercenaries would be looking for you in the wild—you've really outdone yourself this time, Aang," he approved, leaning over the desk and shaking Aang's hand._

"_Oh, don't give me _all_ the credit, Chief," Aang said modestly. "Avatar Roku really helped fine-tune this plan and convinced me it was the right thing to do. I just came up with the idea out of desperation."_

_The following morning, as Aang left on his famous sky bison, Hakoda stood with the other tribal elders, hoping that he would see him again soon._

_Namely, tomorrow._

* * *

The ropes were starting to chafe.

"Uh…Sokka?" Aang asked. "Why am I tied to a chair?"

Said person paced in front of a window with his hands behind his back. Suddenly he whipped around. "How do I know you're really Aang and not some person pretending to be him?" he asked.

"Well, how about this," Aang said. "Everything you're doing right now is from that interrogation class that Hakoda gave us. And for the record, the only reason I'm not out of this chair right now is because you're my friend."

"Alright…" Sokka considered, narrowing his eyes. "…you could've spied on me. Tell me something only _Aang_ would know."

"Well, let's see," Aang muttered, rolling his eyes. "Seven years ago no one even knew I was alive, right?" he asked.

"I…yeah, I guess," Sokka conceded. "So what?" he said accusingly, hands on his hips. "If you think _that's_ proof, you're wrong," he said. "Everyone in the four nations knows about that iceberg."

"Well, when you first found me, you told me that Katara was your flying sister," Aang continued. "Remember that?" he asked, staring at Sokka.

"Yeah," Sokka answered. "Okay, so that would be pretty hard to know if you weren't Aang," he acknowledged. "But still, maybe you're—"

Aang shut his eyes tight and forced himself into the Avatar State. Opening his eyes again, he spoke with the support and power of all his past lives. "I am the Avatar, Sokka, son of Hakoda," he said. Stretching its arms slightly, the Avatar Spirit caused the ropes binding Aang to heat up and dissolve into ash.

Aang opened his eyes again, the glow of the Spirit dissipating and disappearing. "Got it?" he finished, looking severely at Sokka.

"F-fine," Sokka said, cowering against a wall. He cleared his throat and stood, brushing himself off. "I-I think I'll just go tell the others now," he stammered.

The door swung open. Suki stood at the forefront of the group with an exasperated look on her face.

"No need," she said to Sokka. "Everyone except for _you _thought he was Aang." Dragging him off by an arm, she murmured, "You and I are gonna have a little _talk_. And you're apologizing to Aang when we get back."

Aang coughed awkwardly. "I, uh, think I'll go talk to Hakoda now," he said.

* * *

**Review responses first! I'm not ignoring you other people, just responding to various comments.**

**Batarang131: Angst is all well and good in stories, and sometimes makes great ones, but honestly I can't write angst for too long without it getting petty and childish. So that's why I kept it short.**

**...Though angst, or at least an argument, is coming up next chapter. Anyone guess why? :P And no, it's not Suki and Sokka having the argument.**

**Read and review please! :D Your reviews are what motivate me to keep writing and are also what tell me how I did, so please, review!**

**PythianPickles out!**


	13. Find Him

**So, uh…**

**Really sorry for that guys. The reason this chapter took so long was because of a huge case of writer's block that completely and utterly destroyed everything for a while. Hopefully that block has been lifted, but then again I'm about to find out. Here goes…oh, and as I mentioned, chapters will come slower now that there's school involved in my life again. (No snow!)**

**Disclaimer: 49 20 64 6f 6e 27 74 20 6f 77 6e 20 41 54 4c 41 2e**

* * *

**Chapter XIII: Find Him**

"Honey, did you hear something?"

Aang cringed, freezing guiltily on the windowsill of a couple's house. After a whole day of inspections and avoiding guards and passerby, he had begun to slip up.

That probably explained why he had just dropped his staff into the snow extremely loudly.

"No, but I'll go outside and check. You _sure_ you heard something?" a male voice asked.

"Yes, I'm sure, honey," the reply came. "Oh, can you take out some of the trash too?"

"Sure, sweetie!"

Aang almost rolled his eyes at the sappiness of the couple, but then remembered that whoever he married would probably end up doing the same. _Whoever I marry…_he thought, flushing.

By the time the man reached the back of the house, there was nothing to be found except for a horizontal indentation in the snow.

Something was missing.

Aang mentally ran through all the things he had done that day. _Let's see…I inspected half the houses in the Southern Water Tribe, talked with Hakoda about the results, ate dinner, got my daily punch from Toph, fed Appa—oh._

He hadn't seen or heard from Katara at all since he had come back, after the "Aang-is-actually-an-imposter" fiasco.

That probably wasn't good…

He rushed upstairs in a panic, noting that Katara's room was empty. _Oh, nonononono…no…I _left _so this wouldn't happen…nononono…_ He sprinted for the door of Hakoda's room. "Chief Hakoda!" he cried. "Have you seen…" he trailed off slowly.

"—Katara," he breathed.

Said waterbender was sitting on Hakoda's bed along with her father, head in her knees. Her shoulders were visibly shaking, and Aang knew she was crying. Her father was trying to comfort her.

"Aang, I think you should go away right now," Hakoda warned. The expression on his face made it obvious that it was more than just a recommendation.

"Al-alright," Aang stuttered, backing out of the room slowly and closing the door as quietly as he could.

He sank against the wall and stared at the floor in the flickering torchlight.

_Katara's crying…but why? Did I do something? _he thought to himself. _Maybe it was—_

"I think you should go downstairs, Aang," a voice interrupted his thoughts. Aang looked up in shock to see a frowning Hakoda. "I—I'm sorry Chief, I wasn't eavesdropping, I just thinking, I was just wondering," he rambled. "Why is Katara crying?"

"Go. Downstairs," Hakoda answered, emphasizing each word. Then he slammed the door.

Feeling oddly uneasy, Aang complied, making sure to distance himself as far as possible from Hakoda's door.

* * *

"_What did I do, Roku?"_

"_Women are complicated," came the serene reply._

_Aang gritted his teeth in frustration. "Sorry, Roku, but you're not exactly helping. _What did I do_?"_

"_Someone is coming to talk to you about that right now," Roku said. "Why don't you go and see?"_

Aang opened his eyes quickly, wondering if there was yet another assassin, going to kill him.

At this point, he honestly would've preferred the assassin.

"You asked why Katara was crying," Hakoda said grimly.

"Y-yes," Aang answered uncertainly. He raised his hands. "Sir," he began to choke out, trying to keep his rebellious voice under control, "I understand if you want me to leave because I hurt Ka—"

"What? No!" Hakoda interrupted, obviously taken aback. "Look, Aang—I made a mistake," he said, in a remorseful tone.

Aang wasn't quite sure how to react to the fact that an adult was actually apologizing to him. Especially one he respected as much as Hakoda.

"What did you do?" he finally managed.

"Do you remember when we first discussed your plan?" Hakoda asked.

"Yes, of course," Aang answered. Suddenly, his eyes widened. "Is this about…" _Please don't tell me you accidentally revealed my plan…_

"If you're thinking about when you told me not to tell Katara and the others, yes," Hakoda said. "Earlier today, Katara, well, apparently…" Hakoda hesitated.

"Sir, I won't be angry at you for anything," Aang assured. "Just, please…tell me. I want to know if I hurt Katara."

Hakoda nodded slowly and sighed. "Katara…well…apparently Toph said something…"

"Toph?" Aang repeated slowly. "Just a second, Chief," he said, and he got up and strode through the door.

* * *

It was just a cave.

One very unusual small cave with a dead end and a pile of rubble a few feet from the entrance, but still a cave nonetheless.

Well, almost.

Most caves didn't contain concealed entrances to top secret bases.

"I, Private Lee, make this pledge: my life I give to my country, with my hands I fight for Fire Lord Azula and our forefathers before her. With my mind I seek ways to better my country, and with my feet may our March of Civilization continue!" a man yelled at the rubble.

As his voice's echoes slowly died away and trailed into nothing, the man waited solemnly, straining his ears above the dull roar of the desert wind.

Three very quiet knocks sounded.

In response, three bright orange flares of light lit up the small cave as the man directed three roiling waves of flame at a small shaft in a side of the cave. After a moment's silence, a heap of rubble in the hollow slid back with a groan to reveal a simple wooden trapdoor.

As the private opened the trapdoor and descended the waiting flight of stairs, he frantically tried to decide how best to present his news. The Head Phoenix was known to make bearers of bad news conveniently disappear.

Not exactly silently, either. The screams had become as routine to the operatives of the Rising Phoenixes as the plip-plop of dripping water in the old cavern passages.

Understandably, the man was a little nervous.

_Here we go…Agni help me…_ The doors of the Head Phoenix's voluminous personal chambers opened.

"Stop."

Gulping, the private glanced down quickly, seeing that he had almost crossed the red line drawn across the ground. Like Fire Lord Ozai, the leader of the Rising Phoenixes kept his face and body in shadow. "What have you come to report to me?"

"T-The Avatar…" the private stammered out, unconsciously trembling. "…is…"

"—our prisoner?" There was a slight, but noticeable, tinge of satisfaction to the voice. "…good. I will promote Sergeant Fo—"

"Um."

Just one noise. Amazing how much terror that could arouse in its speaker.

"What." The question was more of a command than a query.

"Our assassin f-f…" the man trailed off. He took a deep breath and closed his eyes. "…failed."

Silence.

_Here I come, Agni,_ the private thought, clenching his fists in preparation. Despite his best efforts, he noticed that his breaths were steadily becoming more ragged and desperate.

"WHAT?" the Head roared.

Gulping and trying not to burst into tears, the private readied himself for his death.

"…HAPPENED?"

Opening his eyes a slit, the private realized that he had been given an order. Apparently it wasn't time for him to see the Spirits firsthand yet. "According to our remaining ag-gent, the A-Avatar's f-friends came," he answered, in as calm a tone as he could muster.

"Kill the failure," the Head ordered in a venomous tone.

"We already have, Sir," the private answered.

"Good," the Head boomed. He seemed somewhat mollified. "Send another team to capture him."

_And I thought I was just getting out of this mess,_ the private thought to himself. "The Avatar…is…_gone_, sir," he informed hesitantly. "He left from the Water Tribe after the attack and just vanished into thin air."

Silence yet again. The private listened to his voice echo and then slowly die out. _Like me_, he thought, with morbid humor.

The response that came next did not involve fire in any way, much to the private's relief. At least, until the unfortunate man realized how impossible of a response it was.

"Find him."

* * *

**So, there we go! Is my writer's block still in the way?**

**Also, read and review please! I'm much more motivated to update and write if I know people are actually reading my updates, and it's **_**very**_** helpful to know where I went wrong (like trisz told me about Chapter 12)**

**PythianPickles out, until the next chapter! **

**o(^.^o) **

**o(^.^)o **

**(o^.^)o**


	14. Problems

**This chapter was extremely hard for me to write. Even worse than that fight scene.**

**Oh, and there's like one bad word in here. Proceed while reading through fingers.**

**DIDOATLA**

* * *

**Chapter XIV: Problems**

_~ 4 days previous ~_

_As an earthbender, Chen was supposed to be in tune with the earth._

_So why was it so hard to get stuff to grow?_

_Maybe it was because he was trying this at night. Or maybe it was because he was watering too much. Maybe, maybe, maybe…_

_Looking up at the moon, Chen briefly wished that it was daytime, and imagined the sun in place of the moon._

_His reverie was unceremoniously interrupted by the sight of a fast-moving…something…streaking across the moon. Any hope of returning to his daze was abandoned when a fearsome growl echoed in the night silence._

_The makeshift hoe he was holding dropped to the ground, forgotten._

_Wasn't that the Avatar's—_

"BWAHAHAHAHAHAHA!" a collective laugh burst out through the bar.

"What?" Chen complained, leaning back in his chair. "It's all true, I swear!"

"I think you need to get more sleep," a man jeered. "Yeah!" others mocked, following his lead. "I think yer goin' senile, old man!"

"That really _was_ the Avatar's sky bison!" Chen protested. "And it went—"

"Yeah, yeah," the patrons said dismissively. Getting up from their chairs, they headed over to another table, presumably to continue their mocking of Chen.

"Errgh! Everyone thinks I'm crazy, no one listens…" Chen mumbled to himself.

"I'll listen," a voice said.

* * *

The door opened before Aang could even knock.

"Whadayya want, Twinkletoes?" Toph asked dourly. "Probably something important, since I could feel you stomping miles away."

For a moment, all Aang could do was stare in disbelief. "Did you really forget what you did that quickly?" he demanded incredulously.

"Yes," Toph said innocently.

Toph never acted innocent.

"So you _do_ know," Aang determined. "Do you not care that you made Katara cry _at all_?" he asked.

The snarky expression on Toph's face, and whatever retort she had been rearing up to offer, instantly dissolved, to be replaced by something Aang had only seen on her face a few times in his life.

Regret.

"Yeah, I do," Toph said quietly. "I really do…I'm…sorry…ok? And for the record—"

"Go apologize to Katara, not to me," Aang growled angrily. "_I'm_ not the one who's been crying in their room to the point where even my dad can't comfort me. What did you say to her anyway?"

"Just…look," Toph started. "I really didn't say that much."

"Right, nothing major at all," Aang said sarcastically.

"Just _listen_ for once, Aang," Toph pleaded.

Aang scowled but remained silent.

"Thank you," Toph said. For once, she was actually acting serious. "I'm being honest here, Aang. I didn't say anything really weird or mean to Katara."

"Yeah, maybe by _your_ standards," Aang cut in, instantly forgetting his agreement.

"I might've called her a pansy a few times for being _that _scared of a dream, but that was really it," Toph continued, seemingly resigned to the fact that Aang was not going to keep quiet no matter what she said.

The hot, hazy anger in Aang's heart suddenly condensed into an ice-cold ball of fear. "What did you say?" he demanded.

"I called her a pansy," Toph said obliviously.

"No, before that," Aang said. _No. No, it can't be…_

"I said, she was crying because of some nightmare," Toph told Aang obliviously. "She seemed really shook up, crying and all…so I called her a pansy. Who cries because of a _dream_, right?"

At this point, Aang was too worried to care about anything Toph had called Katara, pansy or otherwise. "Let me get this straight," Aang demanded. "Katara was so scared of a dream that she started crying?"

"Yep," Toph answered. "It really wasn't me, Aang," Toph said. "I might like to tease you guys but I'm not going to be a jerk and make you guys cry all day. If I'd known that she would be crying all day I wouldn't have called her a pansy. Why? Is something wrong?" she asked, her voice taking on a more concerned tone.

All Aang could do was shake his head mutely. "N-no…" he stammered out, staggering back to his door. His thoughts were running wild. _Katara, the strongest person I know, cried because of a dream. What kind of dream was _that? _My kind of dreams? Spirit kinds?_

Aang wasn't too sure, but he suspected that this was not a normal dream.

* * *

"This is the second bar we've had to come to in a day," a hooded man grumbled.

"Don't remind me," Lee replied. "That first bar was useless anyway—I thought that guy who saw the Avatar's sky bison might've had some useful information, not a stupid story about farming and the moon."

A loud crash and the sound of shattering glass sounded from inside the bar, followed by a pained groan and several incredulous shouts.

"What the hell is going on in there?" the man muttered. "Should we really go in?"

"We're here for a reason," Lee said. "This person found the Avatar once, and I'm sure they can do it again."

"_Did_ he now…" the man murmured. Suddenly, he seemed a lot happier about coming to the bar.

The door opened to reveal unconscious men strewn all about the floor, moaning in pain. The stench of beer permeated the air. A woman sat at the last upright table, downing another glass in a single gulp.

"So where is he?" the man said, taking off his hood. "No one here looks like they're gonna be finding the Avatar any time soon."

"_She_," a voice corrected.

In surprise, the man looked up to see the woman striding towards them, picking her way over assorted drooling people.

"Name's June," the woman said. "And if you want me to find the Avatar, you better have some payment."

* * *

**Well, Aang didn't really think that he could just vanish without the Rising Phoenixes getting suspicious, right?**

**I felt like this chapter was really awkward for some reason…if I ever had a touch, I feel like I'm losing it. That's probably why it's so short—shortest chapter I've ever written.**

**Read and review, I guess. :-/**

**PythianPickles out.**


	15. Secrets and Shirshus

**The funny thing is, I've actually got this whole story plotted out, but fleshing it out is as hard as fu—sorry.**

**Ok. Moving on, I've got some review responses at the bottom of this.**

_**Caution: More bad language, for those of you who are mentally disturbed by that.**_

**Disclaimer: If I owned Avatar, I wouldn't be writing fanfiction, now would I?**

* * *

**Chapter XV: Secrets and Shirshus**

"You flatter a girlwhere you come from, don't you?" June taunted, running a hand over the three stuffed bags of jewels.

Trying his best to hold in an incredulous snort, Lee growled out, "We paid you. Now find the Avatar."

"I need something else," June said.

"_What?_ More jewels?" Lee's companion burst out angrily. "Listen here, you bi—"

"Whoa, no need to get testy," June interrupted, holding up a hand."I need something with the Avatar's scent on it."

"Wha…?"

"So Nyla can sniff him out," June explained matter-of-factly.

"You have some really weird women friends," muttered Lee's companion.

"Shut up, Huang," murmured Lee. "Nyla is your shirshu, if the rumors I've heard aren't wrong."

"That's right," answered June. "So, you got anything? It would be a _shame_ for all this bling to go to waste," she said, jingling one of the bags.

"Does blood work?" Lee took out a vial containing crusty, dried blood._It better, or else I'm taking back that stuff by force…_

"That's just nasty," June said in disgust, wrinkling her nose. "How the heck did you get the Avatar's _blood_? And this much?"

"One of our…friends…tried to get the Avatar already," Lee said. "His other…friend…took the knife he used after he was captured and brought it back to us."

"So I'm Plan B, then," June clarified sardonically. "Anyway, this is fine. Come out back with me."

Without waiting for the two men, June swept out the back door.

"Coming?" her voice floated back. The sound of more jingling hurried them up.

* * *

The temple was surprisingly quiet, despite the presence of four teenagers.

"Guys? Where are you?" Katara called out.

No answer, except for the rustling of leaves in the soft wind.

"Sokka? Are you cheating on Suki with Toph?" Katara yelled out again._Come on, now _that_ should get a reaction…_Even a thrown rock would be better than the numb silence flooding the temple.

No answer again, not even a single indignant shout.

Even though she was trying to stay calm, Katara's heart was beginning to beat faster. The old temple had an air about it that made it feel like the ghosts of the past were coming to haunt her.

Knowing that several hundred airbenders had been massacred here by the Fire Nation wasn't helping her calm down either.

"This isn't funny, guys," Katara shouted. "Where _are_ you? Come on! Sokka, if you don't tell me where you guys are, I'll make sure you don't get any meat for dinner tonight!"

Only her echoing voice.

Katara's mind was running at light speed, the slowly building adrenaline urging it along. _Where could those idiots be? Uh…it's really stuffy in the Western Air Temple today, so they'd be…outside?_

An answer settled in Katara's mind. _The garden!_

Running through the dark hallways of the building, Katara tried to ignore the sight of the pitch black doorways and whatever lay within. The mood she was in right now, she did _not_ need to see that. As she approached the garden, Katara found herself tensing. _Please be there, please be there, pleasepleaseplease be there…_

"Guys…?" she called out tentatively, for what seemed to be the hundredth time in a row.

A leaf lazily spiraled down from a tree branch, taking its time. Apart from shadows and fallen leaves, nothing was there.

Struggling to keep her calm, Katara turned and headed off to find her friends, determined not to be left alone, when she glimpsed the top of a tattooed bald head behind a boulder.

"Aang!" she cried out in relief. "Why are you guys hiding behind that ro..." Katara's voice trailed away as she saw that only Aang was there. "Where are the others?" Katara asked.

No response.

Katara then realized that she'd been so excited to see someone other than herself in this desolate place, she hadn't even realized that Aang's tattoos were glowing.

_Uh oh._

Just then, Aang's eyes snapped open with a blinding flash of light, the expression on his face turning enrag—

For the fourth time in the night, Katara woke wide-eyed, covered in sweat.

She hadn't even gotten to the most disturbing part of the dream, and she was already sweating.

Then again, having the same dream four times in a row tended to do that to someone.

_Knock. Knock. Knock._

"Not right now, Toph!" Katara yelled in annoyance. "Yes, I know I'm a _pansy_ for getting all scared of a dream, but I'm _not_ in the mood for more teasing! Go away!"

The timid voice that followed sounded nothing like Toph's, or even a girl's.

* * *

"So you talked to Toph, I take it?" Hakoda asked.

"Yeah," Aang affirmed. "Uh, Sir," he began hesitantly, "Did Katara ever mention anything about a…dream…?"

With a thoughtful look on his face, Hakoda answered, "It was pretty hard to understand her, but yeah, I think so."

"Did she ever say anything about what it was about?"

Suddenly perking up, Hakoda replied, "I remember now. She was sobbing about a dream, and I tried to ask her what it was about, but she didn't tell me. Didn't want to, I guess."

Trying his best not to sound intrusive, Aang asked, "Can I, uh, ask her what it was about?" _Oh yay,_ he thought sardonically, _this doesn't sound rude at all…_

To his surprise, Hakoda gave his approval. "Yes, but don't be too forward, okay? You might be her best friend, but she's really unstable when she's like this…"

"Got it," Aang said. He was halfway out the door when Hakoda's voice stopped him again.

"Aang?"

"Yes?"

"Are these dreams serious?" Hakoda asked.

"I…don't think so," Aang answered, trying to keep the doubt out of his voice. "Look, I don't know myself, so that's why I'm asking."

"Ah. I see," said Hakoda.

Turning again, Aang walked to Katara's door. He could vaguely hear some rustling and creaking groans from the bed inside. Katara had gone to bed early, apparently.

Hesitating a moment, Aang mustered all of his resolve and knocked on the door three times.

_Knock. Knock. Knock._

"Not right now, Toph!" a vague yell came from within. "Yes, I know I'm a _pansy_ for getting all scared of a dream, but I'm _not_ in the mood for more teasing! Go away!"

Aang's jaw dropped before he snapped it shut quickly. Katara thought he was _Toph_? "Uh…it's Aang," he said.

What sounded suspiciously like a startled gasp and dashing feet followed before the door opened suddenly to reveal a panting Katara. "Hey Aang," she greeted.

"Hi," Aang replied. _Okay, hellos out of the way…now for the hard part…_ "Uh…well…I've been worried…about…you….and…uh…"

"Yeah, Aang?" Katara asked, tilting her head slightly.

_Okay, okay, please don't get mad…_ "…Toph was telling me about your…dream…and I've just…uh…wanted to know…what…it was…about…?" he trailed off awkwardly. _That was horrible, ugh…_

Something shifted nearly imperceptibly in Katara's expression, and her gaze became distant for a moment.

"Uh, Katara…" Aang murmured gently. "You okay?" he asked in concern.

Katara's gaze snapped back to him, with a sharpness that made Aang's muscles tense involuntarily.

"I'm fine," she replied icily. "Don't ask me; I can't tell you. It's personal," she said coldly.

Every rational part of Aang was screaming that something wasn't right, but Aang just tried his best to keep calm. "Oh, uh, sorry, I didn't want to—" he started apologetically. _I haven't heard her like this since…oh no…since the hospital…_

"Goodnight."

_Slam._

* * *

**Sorry if the last part sucked, wrote this at 3 AM, so not the best ending.**

**trisz72: Thanks again for the reviews! I understand what you are saying about the lengths and details of various scenes (i.e. the bar as opposed to Aang and Toph's conversation) and I understand. I'd actually thought about that too, but my writer's block was making it impossible to write anything other than a few sentences of dialog too well.**

**Read and review, guys, it really motivates me to keep going!**

**Though I feel like I'll just go back to reading fanfiction...**

**PythianPickles out!**


	16. I Am Not Aang

**Review Responses :D**

**trisz72: Once again, thank you for the constructive reviews, and telling me what I need to fix. You're right—if it was just any old dream Katara wouldn't give Aang the cold shoulder like that, but I haven't actually put out the entire dream yet. She's giving him the cold shoulder for a reason.**

**Disclaimer: I don't own Avatar: the Last Airbender.**

* * *

**Chapter XVI: I Am Not Aang**

What was going on?

"Katara, what did I do?" he asked desperately. "Was I being too forward? I'm sorry! I'm sorry for pretending to leave, and—and…_snoring_…and…" Aang continued to apologize for everything he could think of, to no avail.

Not a single shred of a reply came from within the room.

"Katara?" Aang called.

_Still nothing …_

"Well, I'm sorry, and I guess I'll go away now; I'm really sorry for bothering you…" Aang said dejectedly. Sighing to himself, he resisted the urge to bang his head against the wall repeatedly and made his way back to his room.

"Katara can get that way sometimes."

"Huh?" Aang looked up from his musings, pausing in mid-step.

"Hello," Sokka greeted, standing in the doorway of his room.

"Oh sorry—did I wake you up?" Aang asked. He seemed to be doing everything wrong lately…

"Nah, I was awake anyway," Sokka dismissed.

"Oh, ok…" Aang said gloomily. "I'll just go back to my room, then…"

"Hold up, Aang."

"Yeah?" Aang wheeled around with a quizzical look on his face.

"Cheer up, man," Sokka advised. "This isn't the first time Katara's gone all weird. I had to live with her; I've seen _much_ worse."

"Yeah, but…" Aang paused for a moment. "Did she ever ignore you just because you asked her what she _dreamed_?"

Sokka gawked for a moment before smirking. "Well, no, but why the heck would I ask her that?" he asked. "That's kinda…you know…personal?"

"Oh, right, yeah…" Aang was struck by yet another wave of remorse.

"But you're right," Sokka continued. "It's pretty weird for Katara to ignore you for stuff like that…after all, she _is_ crazy about you," he finished, shooting Aang a grin.

Aang blushed. "Shut up!" he hissed. "And she's not crazy about me, she's with _Wang…_"

"Who…?" Sokka looked confused for a moment.

"You know, Katara's boyfriend," Aang reminded Sokka.

"Oh…_right!_" Sokka said, face lighting up. "Well, you see…Wang…broke up with her."

"Oh. Maybe that was what she was dreaming about, then," Aang speculated. A small flame reignited inside him at the knowledge that Wang was gone, but he quickly put it out as best he could. He was not the type to jump on girls right after their boyfriends left them.

"Eh…I don't think that was it," Sokka said in an oddly confident tone. "But still, Aang, I'm sure she'll calm down soon and you two can kiss and make up. Don't get all depressed because of what happened here."

"I guess so…" Aang murmured doubtfully._Kiss and make up, eh? Daaagh, stop thinking like that…_ "Well, I have to talk to your dad," Aang said, trying to get away from Sokka and his provocative remarks. "So, uh, see you tomorrow, I guess."

"Yeah, ok, I'm going to go get some water," Sokka replied, heading for the stairs.

Aang sighed, his melancholy crashing upon him anew.

"Oh, I really screwed up this time," he muttered to himself. _Though really, why would Katara ignore me just because I asked her what was in her dream? _he wondered silently. He opened his door, prepared for the worst. He opened his mouth—

"It's okay, Aang," Hakoda said.

Aang froze in astonishment, one hand still resting on the doorknob. "How did you know what I was going to say?" he asked.

"I heard what you were yelling," Hakoda stated simply.

"Oh…yeah…sorry…"

"You don't have to apologize," Hakoda assured, putting a hand on Aang's shoulder. "If there's one thing I know about you, it's that you hate hurting people's feelings. And when Katara's this way, well, it's _really_ easy to hurt her by accident…"

Aang's guilty expression did not disappear.

"…I should know. I'm her dad, remember?"

"Uh, I guess," came the uncertain reply.

"She's probably just tired and annoyed; you don't have to feel guilty," Hakoda tried again to cheer Aang up. Seeing no change in Aang's expression, Hakoda tried a different approach."Why don't you go to bed? You've had a really long day and some sleep could really help you."

"I think I'm going to meditate first," Aang replied, walking over to his bed. "Good night," he added.

"Good night, Aang." Hakoda closed the door.

Aang did not have a good night.

* * *

_~ 1 day previous ~_

"_Aang! Just calm down!" Katara yelled over the howling wind._

"_**I am not Aang.**__" _

"_Yes you—aah!" Katara barely dodged a falling boulder. "Aang, can't you see what you're doing to your heritage? Your people's legacy? You're tearing the whole temple apart!"_

_A tumbling statue whizzed by and emphasized her statement._

_The glowing entity in front of her paused for a moment, shaking slightly. Then it seemed to come to a decision._

"_**You are distracting me from my task. Distractions are to be removed.**__"_

_Katara fervently hoped that Aang wouldn't make good on his words. After all, he'd never hurt her in the past…_

_Something was different this time._

_A powerful blast of wind sent her rocketing into the vast ravine beneath the Temple…_

…_and straight into a bright white void._

_Was this death?_

_The Spirit World looked really boring._

_Wait—something was coming towards her. Something with glowing tattoos and eyes…_

_Frantically trying to backpedal, Katara found that she couldn't move. In fact, she couldn't even feel her body._

_Trying to hold in a terrified scream, Katara steeled herself, ready for whatever the thing was to hurt her._

_No such thing happened._

"_**You will stay away from the Avatar.**__"_

"_Aang! Snap out of it! Please!" Katara shouted. _At least I can still talk,_ she thought._

"_**I am not Aang**__," the Spirit repeated. Its body suddenly shifted into a grinning image of Ozai._

"_Who are you, then?"_

"_**I am not Aang.**__"_

"_Wha—"_

"_**You will stay away from the Avatar. It is what he really wants.**__"_

"_What are you talking about? Why would I ever—"_

"_**SILENCE!**__"_

"_I'm just having a drea—"_

_With a growl, the apparition gestured. A rocky shell formed around Katara's sight, plunging her into darkness. Katara tried to yell, but found she could no longer speak._

"_**If you will continue in your insolence, then I have no choice.**__"_

_Images started flashing in the darkness—explosions, fighting, a knife held to someone's throat, a collapsing building—was that ice?_

_The images were flashing by too quickly for Katara to make out the exact subjects, but she had a sinking feeling they involved her friends._

_Then one image seemed to slow down deliberately, and Katara's heart jumped into her throat._

_She knew that figure._

_She had unconsciously memorized the shape in some catacombs in Ba Sing Se—_

—_a figure, body limp, limbs flailing, falling. Unconscious from a lightning wound._

_Aang._

_But this time, there was just a pit. No waterbender to break his fall. Falling, falling, falling…_

_The images flickered to a stop. Katara mentally breathed a sigh of relief._

_Then came the final image._

_This one wasn't just a one-second flare._

_Katara was watching herself sleep in bed._

_BANG! BANG!_

"_Hey, Sugar Queen! You in there?"_

"_Mmmm…" vision-Katara groaned. "Alright, I'm awake!"_

"_You better be, or Snoozles is gonna get real mad at 'cha for letting his 'masterpiece' go cold. He made breakfast today!"_

"_Okay, I'll be down soon…come on, at least let me change!"_

"_Yeah, yeah, whatever. Well, I'm going back down."_

_The sound of a yelp and an impact made vision-Katara whip around. "Toph? You okay?"_

"_I'm fine, just tripped…"_

_The image slowly faded away._

_If Katara had a face in this world, she was pretty sure it was extremely confused. What did the thing show her this for? It was really calm and peaceful, compared to the others._

"_**I know the future. I know what the Avatar wants. The Avatar wants you to stay away from him,**__" the imposing voice declared._

"_**Tell no one of this dream, or risk the consequences of my wrath."**_

_BANG! BANG!_

_Katara jolted awake with a gasp._

"_Hey, Sugar Queen! You in there?"_

_Katara took a moment to stretch and groan. Her entire body was feeling extremely tense and sore. Katara couldn't quite remember what dreams she'd been having last night, but they must've been pretty bad to cause _this._ No problem, though. Dreams were just dreams._

"_Alright, I'm awake!" she called out._

"_You better be, or Snoozles is gonna get real mad at 'cha for letting his 'masterpiece' go cold. He made breakfast today!"_

"_Oh no," Katara groaned to herself. Raising her voice, she yelled, "Okay, I'll be down soon…come on, at least let me change!"_

"_Yeah, yeah, whatever. Well, I'm going back down." Toph said, attention already focused on other things._

_With another groan, Katara rolled out of bed and prepared to change out of her pajamas. _Let's see,_ Katara thought, _I'll—

"_Ah!" An odd thunk sounded._

_Katara whirled around. What had Toph gotten herself into this time? "Toph? You okay?" she asked. "Urgh, where's my healing water…what if Toph needs healing…" she mumbled._

"_I'm fine, just tripped…" Toph yelled back._

"_Oh, okay!" Katara turned back around with an amused grin, ready to pick out some clothes._

_The grin froze on her face._

_With a mental rush, the memories of the dream came back to her._

"…_**Aang! Just calm down!"**_

_**...a certain airbender, falling, falling, falling…**_

"…_**tell no one of this dream…"**_

"…_**I know what the Avatar wants. The Avatar wants you to stay away from him**__…"_

"…_**I can see the future**__."_

* * *

**I'm too tired to write a proper author's note here, so I'll just leave you guys with the usual.**

**Read and review please! If I know people are reading I'm a whole lot more motivated to update!**

**PythianPickles…out. Duh.**


	17. The Impossible Visitor

**Sorry. I'm so sorry, Aang.**

**Oh, and thanks, trisz72 and Avatard.2112. Even though the traffic reports say otherwise, I feel like you two are the only ones who care about this story right now. But really, thanks for your support.**

**trisz72: Well, if Katara thought that Aang would somehow end up falling into a deep, dark pit because she didn't leave him alone, I think she would leave him alone. I don't know though. In the same way that she values Aang above her own **_**father**_**, I think that she'd also value Aang's life over anything else.**

**Disclaimer: I doubt even the creators would be this cruel to Aang…so no, I don't own ATLA.**

* * *

**Chapter XVII: The Impossible Visitor**

Rain wasn't supposed to fall up.

Then again, in the ever-changing Spirit World, the rain could've been falling diagonally for all it mattered.

"Interesting place, is it not?" Roku asked.

"I suppose so," Aang answered politely.

"But that is not what you are here to talk about," Roku said. "The expression on your face is indicative of that."

"Well, yeah," Aang admitted. "But you can keep talking about this place if you want to," he added hastily, not wanting to be rude.

"Aang, that is idle knowledge. You seek knowledge that you can act upon, which is infinitely more important. What is it you wish to talk about?"

"Er…" Aang suddenly felt extremely silly. Had he really called Roku to talk to him because of some little _spat_ with Katara? He'd had tons of those before…

"Ah…girl troubles, eh?"

Aang's eyes widened in chagrin. "Uh—no—that's—not—I—have—better—" he stammered incoherently.

Roku chuckled. "Ahaha…I remember when Sozin came to me about a girl he took a liking to; his expression was just like yours…ahahaha…"

"Oh." Aang rubbed the back of his neck in embarrassment. "I feel like it's really stupid to get so worked up about…"

"It's fine if you want to talk about that, Aang," Roku said. "Do not consider it a waste of my time. After all, that is not exactly an issue for me," he said, smiling.

"It's just...thinking back, I think it was just a little argument, not anything major. Everyone's saying I shouldn't be worried, but I just have this weird feeling that something's wrong…"

"You should never ignore your intuition. What makes you feel that something is wrong?" Roku inquired.

"Katara said something about a dream, and she blew up at me when I tried asking her about it. Roku, of a normal person has a dream, it doesn't mean anything, right?"

"Mostly, yes."

"Wait," Aang said. "What do you mean, _mostly_?"

"Do you recall Chin the Conqueror?" Roku asked.

Aang's thoughts flashed back to memories of burning statues of himself and people yelling "Down with the Avatar!"

Aang blinked.

"I…don't think he's a person I could ever forget," Aang answered diplomatically. "Why?"

"There is something that many people do not know or have forgotten about him," Roku told Aang.

"That…he…uh…got his clothes blown off by Avatar Kyoshi when he fought her?" Aang guessed.

"Not many people know that either," Roku admitted. "But I am talking about the reason that he started his conquests."

"I'm guessing a dream, since I asked you about them."

"Correct. In my time as the Avatar, I had the great privilege of visiting the Library of Wan Shi Tong," Roku said. "As I was browsing through the books, I found something extremely interesting: the private writings of Chin."

"What? How did Wan Shi Tong get _that_?" Aang asked in surprise. His mind conjured an image of a tiptoeing black owl carefully extracting a book from underneath a snoring Chin's pillow, then flying off into the night.

Nah, no way.

"I do not know; he never told me," Roku answered. "However, this is the part that surprised me…"

_I have been chosen by the Spirits!_

_A man, who can see the future, has shown me a vision of my army conquering the Earth Kingdom._

_I will make plans to carry out the plan of the Spirits and fulfill their wishes._

"Wait a minute. Are you trying to tell me that the Spirits _can_ send normal people dreams?" Aang asked. If Katara had gotten disturbing dreams about the future, like him…

"_No_," Roku said sharply. "Chin's dream simply predicted future events by accident. If a spirit actually made contact with a normal human and gave them prophetic dreams, that would mean that it had gathered a very dangerous amount of power."

"What? But _I'm_ human. And the Spirits have had lots of fun sending _me_ dreams," Aang said, with a sardonic laugh.

"Aang, you know that as the Avatar, you hold the Avatar Spirit within you. Your spirit still has ties to the Spirit World. Unfortunately for you, spirits can just use that link to send "messages," if you will. Normal humans have no ties or connections to the Spirit World until they die, and spirits would have to cross over to the mortal world to so much as touch them, which would take a great deal of power. Bending their dreams after that would take an even sillier amount of power."

"So, what you're saying is, it's basically impossible for a spirit to send Katara dreams," Aang said.

"There is no way that any spirit could have that kind of power," Roku confirmed. "Do not worry."

Aang sighed in relief. "So, her dreams were just nightmares? I guess I was worrying too much…thank you, Roku. You've made me feel a lot better."

"It was my pleasure, Aang. I hope your girl problems—"

"Hey! I nev—"

_Boom. Boom. Boom._

Aang stopped mid-rant. "Did you hear those sounds?" he asked nervously.

"No," Roku answered, brow furrowed. "Are you sure that you're—"

Another round of thundering booms drowned him out.

Aang flinched. "Oh yeah, I'm sure," he said, trying to quell his panic. "You _really_ didn't hear anything?"

Whatever Roku said next was interrupted by an even louder set of booms.

"I can't hear you!" Aang yelled over the noise.

_BOOM! BOOM! BOOM!_

"Probably…check…get…your…side…person...wake…" Some snatches of Roku's response filtered through.

"I'm going back!" Aang yelled.

Roku might have said something, but all Aang saw was the nod.

Trying his best to clear his mind and not think about anything, Aang felt the familiar falling sensation cover his body again.

In a flood of feeling, Aang felt the physical world press in on his senses again.

_BOOM. BOOM. BOOM._

Was there an earthquake or something?

Aang quickly leaped off the bed and glanced about wildly.

Windows: Nothing broken.

Assassins: none.

Fire? No…

Oh wait, knocking. _Loud_ knocking.

Striding over to the door, Aang opened it with a very irritated frown.

Of course, Sokka was standing there.

Perfect timing as usual.

"I was kind of in the middle of an important talk," Aang said, trying not to snap.

"Sorry, but this is way more important," Sokka said. There was something odd about his tone.

"What?" Aang asked. "Did Katara get hurt?" he demanded, worry welling up. "Oh no, we have to get the bandages—where did you put the bandages? I told you to get more banda—"

"Aang! Calm down!" Sokka yelled. "Katara's fine!"

"Then what is it?"

Sokka hesitated for a moment. Then he started rambling.

"IwaswalkingoutsidethevillagebecauseIwantedtogofindabetterplacetocatchfishandtherewasthisguyand—"

"Can you slow down? Just because I used to be really hyper doesn't mean I can understand fast talking."

Sokka took a deep breath. Then he looked Aang in the eye and said, "I want you to know that I'm not joking, Aang."

"Okay…"

Another pause.

"Aang, there's an airbender. And he's asking to see the Avatar."

* * *

**Sorry about that update taking so long, though it was mainly because of some tests and stuff that I had to attend to (since school will come before fanfiction, sorry.)**

**Hope it wasn't too bad as I'm still kinda frazzled from that…**

**PythianPickles out! :D**

**Read and review please!**


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